Famous Diamonds

Famous Diamonds

The fascination of diamonds spans the globe from South African mines to the sorting rooms of London. Diamond is taken from the Greek word “adamas” which means indestructible. Diamonds are older than the dinosaurs and harder than any material on earth. Diamonds are prized for their toughness, their ability to withstand heat, and the mysterious light they emit.

Here are famous diamonds that left a mark in human history

The Cullinan.

The largest gem ever found weighing 3106.75 carats. It was found by a miner who presented it to his manager. The manager tossed it out of the window. The miner retrieved it and soon discovered that it was a huge piece of rough diamond. It was sent to King Edward the 7th in such an unusual way. A replica of the Cullinan diamond was made. The replica was sent in a boat, guarded by men day and night. But the real diamond was sent via snail mail, wrapped in brown paper and ordinary box. The mailman delivered the real diamond without suspecting that he was delivering a precious gem in the box.

From the rough diamond, 9 principal stones were cut from it and 98 smaller stones.Two of the nine principal diamonds became part of the Crown Jewels. These include the stone set on top of the Sovereign’s Scepter and the stone set in the Imperial State Crown. The remaining seven diamonds were set in a variety of settings for Queen Mary.

The Kohinoor Diamond (The Mountain of light Diamond).

The diamond was found in Guntur Mines of India. It is a white diamond which weighs 108.93 carats. The diamond goes back to the year 1302 and had been part of India’s history. In 1849 it was sent to Queen Victoria who had it cut once more from its original weight of 186 carats to 108.93 carats. The diamond was set in Queen Elizabeth’s crown.

The Hope Diamond.

One of the largest blue diamonds in the world. It’s a 46 carat gemstone. Since its discovery in the 1600s, the hope crossed oceans and continents. It had been stolen and recovered. The hope had been known for its curse and certain amount of bad luck. Harry Winston purchased the Hope diamond decided to give it to the people. The famous diamond now sits in a bulletproof case in the Smithsonian museum.

The Orlov Diamond.

The diamond was originally from India. It was purchased by Grigorievich Orlov in Amsterdam as a gift to Catherine the Great of Russia. It weighs 189.62 carats The diamond survived the Russian revolution and had been set in the imperial sceptre to this date.

The Heart of Eternity.

The diamond was mined from the South African Premier Mines. The Heart of Diamond has a distinguishable blue hue. Blue diamonds are rare with an average of only one being found every year. The rough stone weighed 777 carats when it was dug up. The owners waited for the perfect design idea before they started cutting it. The result was the millennium blue diamonds, a series of heart, pear drop and oval shape diamonds of which the heart of eternity is the largest.

The Moussaieff Red Diamond.

This rare red diamond weighs 13.9 carats diamond, found by a farmer in the 90’s. According to the Cape Town diamond museum, there have only been up to 32 rare red diamonds ever found, most of them being less than half a carat. Among these rare finds is the Moussaieff Red Diamond. It had been cut to a triangular shape that stuns all lookers in exhibitions in the Smithsonian.

The Taylor - Burton Diamond.

The 69.42 carats pear shape diamond came up in an auction in 1969. Richard Burton won the diamond and gave it as a gift to his wife, Elizabeth Taylor. After divorce, Liz Taylor kept the diamond and sold it for $3M which had been donated to build a hospital in Africa.

The Tiffany Yellow Diamond

The dazzling Tiffany Yellow Diamond was cut from 287.42 carats into a magnificent 128.54 carat yellow diamond. The diamond was found in the Kimberly mines in 1877. Charles Tiffany purchased the stone in Paris. To this date, the magnificent stone sits in New York City at Tiffany's.