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A thing of beauty
Unalterable, unbreakable and untamed
Sparkling with the radiance of a million stars at midnight, the diamond
has, for centuries, captivated and bewitched humankind.
First discovered in India more than 2000 years ago, these exquisite gems
have adorned royalty, been brokers of peace and symbols of love.
Photos: © Tiffany & Co, © De Beers Consolidated Mines Proprietary Limited
The Eureka Diamond
The history of diamonds in South Africa dates back to 1866 with the
discovery of a 21.25 carat rough diamond found by Erasmus Jacobs on the
farm De Kalk situated near Hopetown, south of Kimberley in the Northern
Cape. Thought initially to be nothing more than a pretty pebble, this rough
diamond was passed on to a neighbouring farmer, Schalk van Niekerk who
collected unusual stones. Van Niekerk entrusted the stone to a travelling
peddler who delivered it to Dr WG Atherstone in Grahamstown who identified
the large pebble as a brownish-yellow diamond. It was then sold to Sir Phillip
Wodehouse for 1 500 British pounds.
The Eureka diamond was cut from this original 21.25 carat rough stone. While
not the highest quality diamond to be discovered in South Africa, it holds a
great significance and historical value as its discovery was the precursor to
the discovery of large diamond deposits in Kimberley in 1867. This discovery,
coupled with the discovery of gold on the Witwatersrand in 1886, brought
about the rapid industrialisation of South Africa.
May 1871 saw the opening of the De Beers Mine, followed by the Kimberley
Mine in July of the same year. The Kimberley Mine would go on to become the
world’s richest for nearly a century. During the 1870s and 1880s Kimberley’s
mines produced 95 percent of the world’s diamonds. In 1967, 100 years after
its discovery, the Eureka diamond was gifted back to the people of South
Africa by De Beers. It is now on display at the Mine Museum in Kimberley,
bearing witness to the humble beginnings of what has become a remarkable
diamond mining industry.
The Eureka Diamond
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Kimberly Mine 1880
Frederick Wells with the Cullinan Diamond discovered in 1905
The Tiffany Diamond
The legendary Tiffany Diamond, the icon of Tiffany & Co. Jewellers is a hallmark of the company’s
design excellence and craftsmanship. Discovered in 1877 in the Kimberley Mine the 287.42 carat
rough diamond was purchased in 1878 by Charles Lewis Tiffany who sent it to Paris where it was
studied for a year before being painstakingly cut under the supervision of George Frederick Kunz into
an 82 faceted modified antique cushion brilliant, weighing 128.54 carats. Typically a square antique
brilliant is cut into 58 facets, however the intricate care with which this diamond was cut gave it the
impression of smouldering, as if on fire and it maintains its fluorescence beautifully, retaining its rich
colour even in artificial light. The Tiffany Diamond has only been set on four previous occasions. It
was first worn by Mrs Sheldon Whitehouse at the 1957 Tiffany Ball in Newport, Rhode Island, specially
mounted for the occasion in a necklace of white diamonds. In 1961 Audrey Hepburn became the
second woman to wear this magnificent gem, during publicity photographs for the movie Breakfast
at Tiffany’s. It was set in the Ribbon Rosette necklace by renowned designer, Jean Schlumberger. In
the designer’s 1995 retrospective at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris, it was mounted in his
Bird on a Rock setting. In 2012, the Tiffany Diamond was reset to mark the 175th anniversary of the
iconic brand. It rests now in an elegant necklace of white diamonds totalling over 120 carats, with 20
Lucida® diamonds and 58 brilliant-cut diamonds. The mounting, an openwork motif of sun rays, has
481 sparkling stones.
The Excelsior Diamond
In what would turn out to be perhaps one of the saddest stories in the history of diamond mining,
the Excelsior Diamond’s discovery seemed, at the time to have very little impact on the international
community. Its discovery at Jagersfontein Mine was not even reported in the prestigious British
newspapers, which often reported on lesser finds at the time. Found by a labourer loading a truck
Photos: © Tiffany & Co, © De Beers Consolidated Mines Proprietary Limited
The Tiffany Diamond
who hid the rough diamond from his supervisors, trusting its safety only to the mine manager, the Excelsior
weighed in at a massive 970 carats, making it most likely the second largest diamond ever discovered.
From its discovery on 30 June, 1893, until the discovery of the Cullinan Diamond in 1905, it was in fact the
largest diamond known to exist. Its unique shape, flat on one side and peaked on the other inspired the
name Excelsior, which means higher. The Excelsior was graded G coloured- a brilliant white stone with a
tint of blue and contained a number of black carbon inclusions, typical of diamonds from the Jagersfontein
Mine. Speculation around why the rough diamond was never purchased included the fact that its sheer
size made it too expensive. It suffered the sad fate of being cut into ten stones by Abraham Asscher of the
Asscher Firm in London. Alpheus F Williams, who succeeded his father as General Manager of De Beers
wrote in his book, Some Dreams Come True, that "It was unpardonable that this exquisite diamond was so
cleaved that the largest stone cut from it weighed only 70 metric carats. The intrinsic value meant more to
its owners than its historical importance, so different from the spirit of the owners of the Cullinan diamond
who, in deciding to have the diamond cleaved into nine pieces, insisted that one of the pieces so cleaved
should be, when cut, the largest diamond in the world."
The Cullinan Diamond
The Cullinan Diamond is the largest gem-quality diamond ever found, weighing in at a massive 3,106.75
carats. It was discovered on 26 January 1905 in the Premier No. 2 Mine near Pretoria. What is particularly
significant about this find, aside from its size, is its legacy. The Cullinan was purchased by the Transvaal
government, which presented it to King Edward VII on his 66th birthday on 9 November, 1907. It was split
and cut into nine major stones and 96 smaller stones by the leading Dutch Asscher Firm. The two largest
stones cut from the Cullinan were mounted into the British Crown Jewels. The Cullinan I, also known as
the Great Star of Africa, is a sizeable 530.4 carats and was the largest polished diamond in the world until
the discovery in 1985 of the Golden Jubilee Diamond. The Cullinan I was set into the head of the Sceptre
with the Cross. The Cullinan II, also known as the Lesser Star of Africa and weighing 317.4 carats, was set
The Excelsior Diamond
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into the Imperial State Crown. It is the fourth largest polished diamond
in the world. The remaining seven larger stones and the 96 smaller
brilliants remained in the possession of the Asscher Firm until they
were purchased by the South African government and presented to
Queen Mary on June 28, 1910.
The Centenary Diamond
The discovery of the Centenary Diamond was revealed at the De
Beers centenary celebrations on 11 May 1988. Discovered by the X-ray
imaging system at the Premier Mine on 17 July 1986, the rough diamond
weighed 599 carats and is one of the largest flawless-colour diamonds
in the world. For over a century the Premier Mine has produced many
of the world’s most outstanding diamonds, The Centenary diamond
would join the prestigious ranks of the Cullinan, the Niarchos, the
Taylor-Burton and the Premier Rose.
Cut by the exceptional Gabi Tolkowsky, the diamond boasts over
247 facets and weighs 273.85 carats. From the numerous designs
presented to the De Beers board, it was the modified heart-shaped
design which eventually won out. Tolkowsky was assisted by Geoff
Woolett, Jim Nash and Dawie du Plessis, along with a specially chosen
group of engineers, electricians and security guards in a purpose-built
underground room in the De Beers Diamond Research Laboratory in
Johannesburg. The initial cutting and removing was done by hand and
not laser, unusual in modern times. Never before had so many facets
been polished into one diamond and the resulting polished gem was
worthy of adorning a sultan’s turban or a king’s crown.
The Centenary Diamond
South Africa has a truly exceptional record for producing the world’s most spectacular diamonds. At least
twenty of the largest or most significant diamonds in the world come from within our borders, eleven alone
sourced from the Premier Mine in Kimberley.
It is not simply the sheer size of these diamonds in their rough and polished states that is impressive; it
is the history and legacy of these stones that tells a fascinating and alluring tale. Legend surrounding the
Ashberg Diamond has it forming a late addition to the Russian Crown Jewels, whilst the Jonker I, was once
owned by King Farouk of Egypt and Queen Ratna of Nepal.
In one of the greatest public declarations of love, Richard Burton purchased the exquisite Taylor Burton
Diamond (discovered in the Premier Diamond Mine in 1966), for his wife Elizabeth Taylor, for an undisclosed
sum from Cartier who had outbid his agent at the Parke-Bernet Galleries in New York.
Each of these magnificent gems boasts an intriguing lineage and a monumental price tag, a testimony to the
riches that have lain beneath the surface of South Africa for billions of years. Lindsay Grubb
Photos: © De Beers Consolidated Mines Proprietary Limited
An esteemed legacy
Cullinan Diamonds (Pty) Ltd , Cullinan Diamond Mine , Cullinan
www.cullinandiamonds.co.za
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[email protected]
Tel: +27 12 734 2626