Famous International Diamonds Facts and Curiosities
THE CULLINAN The cullinan, probably the most famous of all international diamonds, was found in South Africa and weighted 3.106ct in its rough state. Besides being the biggest ever found, the Cullinan has an amazing quality. In January of 1905, Fred Welles, the manager of Tranvaal noticed a intense shinning coming from the mine’s wall. He then, unearthed the yellow stone using his pocket knife extracting the amazing diamond weighting more than a pound. It was named Cullinan after Mr. Thomas Cullinan, the president of the mining company.
The Tranvaal government bought the stone for 150.000.00 pounds and gave it to King Eduard VII for his 66th birthday.
The huge diamond was then cut by Joseph Asscher & Co. from Amsterdam.
They studied the Diamond for about 6 months before cutting it, to produce the biggest number of stones possible.
Initially it was broken in two pieces, the first weighting 2.029,94ct and the second 1.068,09ct.
It was divided in 9 parts and 96 brilliant pieces with a 34,25% ratio and a total of 1063,60ct. The Cullinan I is also called “The Star of Africa.”
The Cullinan II (right) is also property of the Imperial State Crown of Great Britain and is kept, along with the other British Crown Jewels, in the Tower of London.
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The first stone became a huge pear shaped diamond, The Cullinan I, (above right) weighting 530,20.