9th place: Red Cross / Red Cross is a canary-yellow cushion diamond weighing 205.07 carats( 41 grams) found in one of the South African mines of the company De Beers in 1901.The net weight of the mined diamond was 375 carats. After cutting, the Red Cross acquired a mysterious detail - through the top face clearly visible eight-pointed Maltese cross, from which his name came. Another distinguishing feature of the diamond is in its ability to accumulate light and subsequently glow in the dark. In 1918, the stone was presented as a gift to the British Red Cross, which put a diamond at the auction Christieus, where he was sold for 10 thousand pounds sterling. All the money received at the auction was spent on medicines and accomplishment of hospitals. The Red Cross twice participated in the auctions - in 1973 and 1977.The identity of the current owner of the stone remains unknown.
8th place: De Beers / De Beers - a pale yellow diamond weighing 234.65 carats( 46.9 grams), found at the mine De Beers in Kimberley, South Africa in 1888.Before cutting, a diamond in the form of a curved octahedron weighed 428.50 carats. In 1921, Bhupindra Singha, who ruled at Patiala Maharaja, then purchased De Beers for his collection. Seven years later, in Paris, the Cartier jewelery house made a ceremonial "Patial's necklace", in the center of which was installed the diamond "De Beers".The necklace was encrusted with 2930 diamonds weighing 962.25 carats. After the death of the Indian prince Patiala, it disappeared. In 1998, parts of precious jewelry began to appear on the jewelery market in London, but seven stones in the range of 18 to 73 carats and a diamond "De Beers" were never found. Then the jewelry house Cartier bought all the remaining parts of Patial's necklace and for four years was engaged in its restoration, installing instead of the missing originals of artificial crystals.
7th place: Jubilee / Jubilee - a colorless diamond weighing 245.35 carats( 49 grams), cut in the form of a "kushon".A large 650.80 carat diamond, found in 1895 at the Jagersfontein mine in South Africa, was originally named after William Francis Reitz, then president of the Orange Republic. The irregular shape of the gem was faceted in 1897, in the "diamond" anniversary of the reign of Queen Victoria of Britain, after whom it was named. In 1900 he was represented at the Paris exhibition, where he attracted the attention of the public. The first owner of the diamond "Jubilee" was an Indian businessman Dorabji Jamsetji Tata, who gave it to his wife. When the Indian industrialist died in 1932, his heirs decided to sell the diamond. Several times, "Jubilee" changed the hosts. The last owner - Paul Louis Weiller - bought a precious stone for the Washington museum at the Smithsonian Institute, where everyone can see it.
6th place: Century / Centenary is a unique diamond of perfect grinding weighing 273.85 carats( 54.8 grams) belonging to the largest diamond mining company "De Beers".A 599-carat diamond, found in South African diamond deposits, was first introduced to the public on the centennial of the firm in 1988.In processed form, the stone was already shown in 1991.The stone of the unusual, resembling the heart, cut diamonds received the highest color group D and the highest purity of FI.According to experts, "Centennial" is the largest diamond with similar characteristics, which is its uniqueness. The diamond was leased to the Tower of London, where it was shown to the public for several years. There is information that in 2008 De Beers sold the stone to a wealthy entrepreneur from the United States, whose name remains unknown.
5th place: Spirit de Grizegono / Spirit of de Grisogono - the world's largest black diamond weighing 312.24 carats( 62.4 grams).A unique in its beauty and purity stone was found in Central Africa and originally had a weight of 587 carats. His first owner was the Swiss jeweler Fawaz Gruosi - a master in the processing of black diamonds. He transported the stone to Switzerland, where he restricted it in the form of a rose - an ancient style of cut, developed in India. Now the diamond "Spirit de Grisegono" is set in a ring of white gold, encrusted with 702 small transparent diamonds weighing 36.69 carats. For more than a year, the Swiss jeweler studied the diamond before giving it this fine form, adding to the ancient cut of the rose a modern design. The rare diamond "Spirit de Grisegono" visited several private collections, but it still belongs to the jewelry company "De Grizegono".
4th place: Cullinan II / Cullinan II is a colorless emerald cut diamond weighing 317.4 carats( 63.5 grams), the second largest diamond from the famous diamond "Cullinan", the largest in the history of mankind. A gigantic crystal weighing 3106 carats was discovered in the British colony of Transvaal, South Africa, in 1905.The name was given in honor of Thomas Cullinan, the owner of the mine, where he was found. The best cutter in Europe, Joseph Asher, who was honored to handle a unique diamond, divided Cullinan into 2 large, 7 medium and 96 small diamonds of exceptional purity. The diamond "Cullinan II" adorns the crown of the British Empire, which is represented at the exhibition in the Tower of London.
3rd place: Incomparable / Incomparable - a golden yellow diamond weighing 407.48 carats, the unusual triangular shape of which gave birth to the term "triolet".He was accidentally found in the early 1980s by a little girl next to an abandoned diamond mine in Mbuji-Maiv( Congo).Initially, the diamond weighed 890 carats. For the first time the diamond "Peerless" was put up for sale at the Christie's auction in 1988, where he bought for 12 million dollars Theodore Horowitz from Geneva. In 2002, he was in electronic auction E-bay, where his initial price was $ 15 million, which was a record for this type of trades, but no one responded to this offer. In 2009, "Incomparable" was exhibited in the Royal Canadian Museum of Ontario. In 2013, a unique golden-yellow diamond was installed in a necklace of rose gold, inlaid with 91 diamonds, which was prepared for him by the company Mouawad.
2nd place: Cullinan I / Cullinan I or Great Star of Africa - a colorless diamond weighing 530.2 carats. It is the largest part of the Cullinan diamond, discovered in 1905 in the English colony of Transvaal( South Africa).In 1907, the Transvaal government presented the diamond as a present to the British King Edward VII on his 66th birthday. Work on diamond cutting was entrusted to the well-known Dutch jewelry house IJ Asher and Co. The stone of impeccable purity was faceted in the form of "pandelos" and received 74 facets. Now the "Big Star of Africa" is in the Tower of London and is crowned by the scepter of the British monarch Edward VII.
1st place: Golden anniversary / Golden Jubilee is a fantasy yellow-brown diamond weighing 545.67 carats, which owns the honorary title of the largest diamond in the world. It was found in 1985 in the South African mine "Premier", owned by the company "De Beers".Before cutting, the weight of the diamond was 755.5 carats. An outstanding cutter Gaby Tolkowski, who spent two years on this work, was engaged in the processing of the stone and in 1990 presented to the world a brilliant of amazing beauty. The final form of cutting the stone received from its creator the name "kushon with elements of a fiery rose."A few years later, the "Golden Jubilee" was in the Thai Diamond Manufacturers Association, which for a long time demonstrated it as an exhibit. In 1995, several Thai businessmen purchased a unique diamond and presented it as a gift to the King of Thailand, Phumipon Adulyadej, on the 50th anniversary of his reign. It was this event - the golden jubilee of the monarch - that served as the basis for the name of the diamond. Currently, the "Golden Jubilee" is located in the Royal Palace in Bangkok as part of the treasures of the Thai crown.
see also The most expensive diamonds in the world. Top-11
Throughout the history of mankind, diamonds have been the objects of universal admiration and attracted special attention of noble people. As symbols of a certain status, they crowned the crowns of rulers or simply graced gracefully on the lady's fingers, causing delight in those around them. Some diamonds are famous for their rich history, others are known for their fabulous price, and others are famous for the whole world with their impressive sizes. We will tell you about the latter in this review.
We present to your attention the top ten largest diamonds in the world.
10-place: Millennium star / Millennium Star - a colorless diamond weighing 203.04 carats( 40.6 grams), faceted in the shape of a pear with 54 facets. Internally and externally, the impeccable stone is part of the collection of jewelry called "Millennium", owned by the company "De Beers".A 777-carat diamond, from which the Millennium Star was manufactured, was found in Mbuji-Mayi( Congo) in 1990.For more than three years, employees of the Steinmetz Diamond Group with the help of laser technologies have been working on diamond processing. First it was split in Belgium, then polished in South Africa, and the finishing stage of processing took place in New York, where the official presentation of the finished diamond "Millennium Star" in 1999 took place. In 2000, during the London exhibition in Millennium Dome, an attempt was made to kidnap the collection "Millennium", but the police found a conspiracy and arrested the robbers before they escaped. The real cost of the stone is still unknown, but it is insured for 100 million pounds sterling.
