On January 26, 1905, during his routine inspection, Frederick Wells, manager of the Premier Mine in South Africa, could not believe his luck. He had made an unexpected discovery that would change the world of diamonds. On this historic day, the largest diamond in the world was unearthed, which was then named Cullinan after the owner of the mine, Sir Thomas Cullinan, who had actually visited the mine that day.
The large rough diamond was taken to the mine offices to be weighed. The stone was found to weigh 3,106 carats, making it the largest diamond ever found, while many believed that the diamond was only a fragment of a much larger stone still waiting to be discovered, causing an “explosion” in the mining community. , who hoped to find the remaining part of the stone.
The diamond, however, did not find a buyer, so two years later the regional government of the Transvaal decided to buy it for £150,000 and offer it to King Edward VII as a goodwill gift for his 66th birthday. Carrying such an important gemstone naturally attracted attention – which was not wanted. Strict security measures were therefore required. According to the official figures, he was secretly transferred to a steamer and kept under guard. However, this one was fake. The real Callinan diamond had traveled by post with a simple three shilling stamp affixed to its parcel, which could not have raised suspicion. Sigmund Neumann, agent of Premier London, was responsible for its safekeeping.
It was then commissioned to Joseph Asher, a famous diamond cutter – one of the best in the world – who also owned the company of the same name in Amsterdam, to cut it into smaller pieces. Its size was such that when Asher received it, he had to study it for months. According to legend, the first attempt resulted in the chisel being snapped in half. After eight months and careful planning, Asher managed to divide it into nine large stones, ninety-six smaller stones and approximately 19.5 carats of rough diamonds.
The two largest rough diamonds weighed 1,977 carats and 1,040 carats respectively, are known as Callinan I and Callinan II, and were presented to King Edward. The first with a final weight of 530.20 carats is the largest polished diamond in the world to date, while the Callinan II with a final weight of 317.40 carats is the second largest. Callinan I is on the royal scepter and Callinan II on the imperial crown. The third diamond cut, the pear-cut Cullinan III, weighs 94.40 carats, and was originally the crown jewel of Queen Mary. The fourth smallest diamond the Callinan IV is a cushion cut diamond weighing 63.60 carats. Initially the stone was placed in the band of Queen Mary’s crown, while later Elizabeth II wore it as a locket-pin.
Column editor: Myrto Katsigera, Vassilis Minakakis, Antigone-Despina Poimenidou, Athanasios Syroplakis
