The biggest diamond is Cullinan

To correctly determine what is the biggest diamond, you need to understand the difference between a diamond and a diamond. Diamond is an untreated stone. A diamond is called a cut diamond. After cutting, the stone can significantly lose weight. This is due to the fact that in natural stones there are always some defects - foreign inclusions, cracks, etc. Therefore, the cutter has to choose the most suitable place for processing in the stone, sometimes chipping off pieces or even breaking it into pieces.

For example, this is how the biggest diamond in the world was made - Cullinan-I. The stone from which this diamond turned out weighed 3106.8 ct. (621.35 gr.) And had dimensions of 100x65x50 mm. Found it in 1905 in the Transvaal, at that time the colony of England. The manager of one of the mines for diamond mining quite accidentally noticed the glitter in a heap of simple rock on one of the mine sites. Having disassembled the stones, he discovered a diamond of unusual sizes.

The mine belonged to a man named Cullinan, so the stone was named - "Cullinan", perpetuating the name of the owner of the site. Thomas Cullinan put out his crystal, from which the largest diamond was then made, for sale in a bank in Johannesburg, where he lay for two years. Then the crystal was presented as a gift to the birthday of the monarch of England Edward VII.

The king sent him to cut to the best Dutch jewelers, brothers Asskor. Joseph Ascor studied stone for six months, looking for the so-called impact point. This master was considered the most skilled jeweler of his time in terms of the correct location of this point.

The task was very responsible even for him. Witnesses say that when Joseph after a long calculation finally hit the stone, he immediately fainted with excitement and tension. And only after recovering himself, he was relieved to notice that he had calculated everything correctly. The stone fell apart into several parts. Subsequently, nine large diamonds were produced, 96 were medium-sized, and one diamond was left untreated. The biggest diamond that came out of the crystal was called "Cullinan-I". Its weight was about 530 ct.

The world's largest diamond is also called the place where it was found - "Big Star of Africa". It has a pear-shaped form and is the main decoration of the English scepter. The remaining diamonds, which are called "Small Stars of Africa", are now on display at the Tower Museum

Although officially "Cullinan-I" is still considered the largest crystal, there is a diamond more than him. It is a diamond "The Golden Jubilee" weighing 545.7 ct. (109.1 g). The stone from which it was made had a weight of 756 ct. Like the Cullinan, it was found in South Africa in the 1980s. At the moment, the crystal is the property of the King of Thailand. Therefore, in fact, "The Golden Jubilee" is the largest diamond on earth.

Maybe someday more crystals will be found, but so far Cullinan-I and The Golden Jubilee are two remarkable stones that are rightly considered to be the largest and most valuable in the world, and for a long time will please both our Contemporaries, and their descendants.