The 10 Largest Diamonds Ever Discovered

The 10 Largest Diamonds Ever Discovered
1) SERGIO (3167 Carats)
Sergio, a black carbonado diamond from Brazil, which was discovered in 1893, is the heaviest diamond
discovered to date. Black carbonado diamonds are extremely rare and pose a lot of questions about
their origins. Among other factors, the birth of these diamonds is attributed to heat from natural
radiation, asteroid impacts and exploding stars, with the factors believed to sometimes work together
to achieve the mysterious alchemy that turns carbon into huge chunks of this kind of diamond.
2) CULLINAN DIAMOND (3106.75 carats)
The Cullinan Diamond is the largest non-carbonado diamond as well as the largest gem-quality
diamond ever discovered. The rough diamond was discovered in South Africa, in 1905. It was named
after the owner of the mine where it was found, Sir Thomas Cullinan. It was subsequently gifted to the
King of the United Kingdom (Edward VII) and then cut into 9 large and 96 smaller stones.
The largest polished gem from the stone is named Cullinan I or the Great Star of Africa, and at 530.4
carats, is the largest polished white diamond in the world. Cullinan I is now part of the Crown Jewels, in
the Sceptre with the Cross.
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3) EXCELSIOR DIAMOND (971 carats)
Found in 1893 in South Africa, The Excelsior Diamond was later cut into ten stones weighing from 13 to 68
carats.
The rough stone weighed 971 carats and was categorized as “Color G”. It was shaped like half a loaf of
bread, which inspired the name Excelsior, which means “higher”. It was a stunning white with a tint of blue.
The stone contained a number of black carbon inclusions, which are typical of diamonds from the
Jagersfontein mine. From the time of its discovery on June 30, 1893, it was the largest diamond known to
exist, until the discovery of the Cullinan Diamond in 1905.
4) STAR OF SIERRA LEONE (968.9 carats)
The 968.9-carat Star of Sierra Leone diamond was discovered in 1972 in the Diminco alluvial mines in
the Koidu area of Sierra Leone. It ranks as the third-largest gem-quality diamond and the largest alluvial
diamond ever discovered.
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The stone was initially cut into an emerald shaped stone weighing 143.2 carats (28.64 g) but was later recut because of an internal flaw. The Star of Sierra Leone was eventually made into 17 finished diamonds, of
which 13 were categorised as “flawless”.
The largest single finished stone was a flawless pear-shaped diamond of 53.96 carats. Six of the diamonds
cut from the original rough were later set by Harry Winston into the famous "Star of Sierra Leone" brooch.
A rare characteristic of the stone is its perfect chemical purity: it is ranked as a type IIa diamond, a category
which includes less than 1% of all diamonds.
5. INCOMPARABLE DIAMOND (890 carats)
The Incomparable was found in its rough state by a young girl playing in rubble, in the Democratic Republic
of Congo (formerly Zaire) in the 1980s. The rubble had been lawfully collected from old mine dumps from
the nearby MIBA Diamond Mine, after been rejected as being too bulky to be worth scanning for diamonds.
The girl gave the diamond to her uncle, who sold it to some local African diamond dealers, who in turn sold
it to a group of Lebanese buyers operating out of Kinshasa.
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It took experts years to cut the rough 890 carat diamond into smaller gems. A beautiful yellow-brown stone
(407.48 carats) was cut into an unusual triangular shape.
6. THE MILLENNIUM STAR (777 carats)
The large Millennium Star rough diamond was found in the Democratic Republic of Congo in 1990. The cut
version is an astonishing 203.04 carat stone owned by the DeBeers Group. It is the world's second largest
known top-color (D), internally and externally flawless, pear-shaped diamond.
It took over three years for workers of the Steinmetz Diamond Group to produce the classic pear form from
the uncut stone of 777carats. The cutting was done using lasers.
7. THE WOYIE RIVER (770 carats)
Named after the river in Sierra Leone it was found in, the discovery of this 770 carat rock was announced in
1945. The rough diamond was finally cut into 30 smaller pieces, wielding colorless and flawless gemstones.
The largest gem yielded by The Woyie River rough diamond is The Victory Diamond – a 31.35 carat stepcut stone.
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8. THE GOLDEN JUBILEE (755 carats)
Extracted in South Africa in 1985, The Golden Jubilee Diamond was blessed by Pope John Paul II after it had
been cut and polished. The finished stone is a diamond that weighs 545.67 carats, making it the largest cut
and faceted diamond in the world. It is currently owned by the Royal Family of Thailand.
9. THE VARGAS (726.2 carats)
This Brazilian diamond was discovered in 1938. It is named after Getúlio Dornelles Vargas, who was
President at the time. The diamond was finally bought by American jeweler, Harry Winston. Twentynine smaller stones were fashioned from The Vargas. The largest was a flawless 44.17 carat gem which
had been re-cut by Winston himself.
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10. The Jonker (726 carats)
The Jonker was found at the Elandsfontein mine in South Africa by Johannes Jacobus Jonker in 1934. At the
time, this 726-carat diamond was the fourth largest uncut gem ever found. The Jonker was found only 5 km
away from the Cullinan Diamond, which was the largest diamond ever found. There is speculation that the
Jonker may have originally been part of the Cullinan because the crystals had cleaved faces that matched
quite perfectly.
The Jonker finally ended up being cut into 13 stones. The largest one is Jonker I, a 142.90 ct D-color flawless
diamond which was later re-cut to 125.35 carats.
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