Tip 1: Where is the biggest diamond

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Tip 1: Where is the biggest diamond

The biggest diamond in the world is the "Star of Africa"or "Cullinan 1" has a cut in the shape of a pear and adorns the scepter of the British queen. However, "Cullinan 1" is only part of the large nugget found in the Transvaal.

"Cullinan", - the name of the largesta diamond nugget is nothing more than the name of the owner of the mine on which the diamond was found. The event occurred in 1905, when in the world there was only one important place for the extraction of diamonds - a copy of South Africa, located along the banks of the rivers Orange and Vaal.

Travel to Europe and cut

At that time in the territory of present-day South Africathe Transvaal Republic was located. The found stone became known to its government, which acquired a find for 150,000 pounds, despite the fact that the real value of the diamond at that time exceeded 8 million (the present value of the stone, even without a cut, is equivalent to the price of 94 tons of gold). Prior to buying, the stone was on display in one of the banks of Johannesburg. Visitors were struck by the cleanliness of the find - there were no air bubbles, mineral inclusions, - a diamond of 3106 carats or 621.2 grams of weight was crystal clear. The government of the republic decided to send a diamond to England, as a birthday present, to King Edward VII. It was officially announced that a special ship with protection will be sent. However, in fact, in order to confuse intruders, the diamond was sent by regular mail. Anyway, but the stone was in the UK. The king decided to break the biggest discovery of the century into several parts. The best jeweler of the time Assker was commissioned to perform such an operation, as well as to make a cut. The challenge was to find the perfect place on the stone for staking. Master studied the "subject" for several months and such a place was found. Several prominent jewelers watched the split process. The operation was successful, - as a result, it turned out 9 large pieces (the heaviest weighed 530.2 carats) and 105 small ones. They all went for a cut. And one, at 69 carats, was left untreated. The work of the master was generously paid for - he received 102 diamonds left after the division of the "Cullinan".

Where diamonds are today

In 1910, the Prime Minister of South Africa bought out allscattering from Assker, to donate diamonds going to the throne of Queen Mary of Great Britain. So all the shards of the world's largest diamond were in Europe. The largest diamond, "Big Star of Africa" at the time was crowned the scepter of Edward VII, and now is in London (Tower). The stone has 74 facets and a drop-shaped shape - if you pull it out of the scepter, you will get an elegant brooch. "Cullinan 3", "Cullinan 4" are also stored in the Tower. The 5th "Cullinan" is made in the form of a heart, the 6th "Cullinan" King Edward VII presented as a gift to Queen Alexandra, and that - Queen Mary. "Cullinan 7" was first made in the form of a suspension, but later placed in the crown of Queen Alexandra. "Cullinan 8" - a brooch, and "Cullinan 9" adorns the ring. All parts of the famous South African find are in England.

Tip 2: Where did you find the largest diamond in the world?

Cullinan, the largest diamond in the world, wasFound on January 26, 1905 in South Africa, at the Premier Mine, located 40 kilometers east of Pretoria. He weighed in at 3106 carats (621.2 grams), which is twice as much as any of the previously found diamonds. A gem in honor of the owner of the diamond mine, Sir Thomas Cullinan, was named.

History of the mine

Kimberlite pipe was discovered by ThomasCullinan in 1902, after many years of unsuccessful search. Its development began in the next year 1903. The glory of the mine was brought to the surface by the Cullinan diamond. But in addition to it, 750 diamonds, weighing over 100 carats and a quarter of all diamonds of the world, weighing more than 400 carats, are mined here. Among the found at the Premier Mine are such famous gems as Premier Rose (353 carats), Niarchos (426 carats), De Beers Centenary (599 carats) and Golden Jubilee Diamond (755 carats). From the last stone, the largest diamond for the present day, adorns the crown of the King of Thailand, Bhumibol Adulyadej. The mine operates today. As part of the celebration of its century, in November 2003, the mine was renamed Cullinan Diamond Mine. Now the mine belongs to the diamond mining group Petra Diamond. Currently, the mine is hardly the only significant source of rare and very valuable blue diamonds in the world. Continue to find here and large stones. So in September 2009, was found a white diamond weighing 507 carats, named "Heir to Cullinann."

The fate of the diamond "Cullinan"

The largest of all diamonds found in November 1907year was presented for the birthday of the English King Edward VII. According to legend, the king was not delighted with the stone. I considered him plain-looking. Soon the diamond was transferred for processing to a Dutch firm headed by the famous jeweler Josef Ascher. Turn it into one big diamond was not possible. On the diamond there were hardly noticeable cracks. They decided to split the stone. On the second attempt, the diamond was broken into two large parts and a few small ones. The first part produced a teardrop-shaped diamond, called "Cullinan I" or "Big Star of Africa". The weight of the diamond is 530.2 carats. This jewel was adorned with a royal scepter. Of the second part, a quadrangular diamond weighing 317.4 carats was made. "Cullinan II" or as it is otherwise called "The Second Star of Africa" is on the crown of the British monarchs. Of the remaining parts, two more large diamonds were produced, weighing 94.4 and 63.65 carats, respectively. Five medium and 96 small diamonds.

Tip 3: What is the most famous diamond

Precious stones have always attracted attentionpeople, they became objects of lust and worship, a source of wealth and the cause of envy. Stones were often endowed with mystical possibilities, especially those that differed in beauty and size. So, the most famous diamonds in some countries are revered almost as deities.

Instructions

The most luxurious and illustrious diamond ever found is Cullinan, mined in January 1905. Its weight before processing (cut) was 3106 carats, which equals 621.2 grams.

An amazing find was made inbelonging to the then British colony of the Transvaal. The superintendent of copies of one of the mines, Fred Wells, during the bypass, noticed the sparkling in the sunlight on the surface of the quarry. The glittering fragment, extracted with a simple penknife, was mistakenly mistaken for a piece of crystal and was almost thrown into the window. Thus, the world's largest diamond was discovered.

By his name the stone owes the owner of the mine, where,in fact, and was discovered - Sir Thomas Cullinan. Dimensions - this is not the only thing that hit the diamond. Cullinan is amazingly clean, it has no foreign particles, no cracks. By modern standards, the original cost of Cullinan before processing would be the equivalent price of 90 tons of gold.

The find was put on display to the public. But the price was so high that in a few years there was not a single buyer. Then they made the decision to present the stone as a gift to the ruler of England, Edward the Seventh, to his birthday.

The stone admired and surprised with its huge size, was of excellent quality, had perfect transparency and was absolutely colorless.

It is difficult to say what the owners were guided bya historical find, but the stone was crushed to pieces and cut. For such a responsible job undertook an experienced jeweler Joseph Asher. After the impact on the stone, Asher fainted from the weight of responsibility. When, waking up, he saw that the stone was intact, he lost consciousness again.

From Cullinan formed the two largestdiamond in the world: one - "The Great Star of Africa" (530 karat), the other was called "Small Star of Africa" (karatnost 317). Now it is the property of Great Britain. In total, as a result of the work done, Cullinan managed to obtain nine large diamonds, as well as more than 95 pieces of small diamonds. The total weight was as a result 1063.65 carats. Thus, in the treatment there was a loss in weight of more than 60%.

Nowadays, the largest diamonds of Cullinanform an important part of the jewelery collection of the English royal family. During particularly solemn and important official events, the Queen of England entrusts decorations with Cullinan diamond inserts. Tourists can also see them at the exhibition in the Tower, namely in the House of Treasures.