Famous Diamonds
 

The Centenary Diamond

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The Cullinan

One night in 1905, during a round of inspection, surface manager Frederic Wells, nicknamed "daddy Wells", of the Premier Mine (so named after PM Cecil Rhodes) discovered a shiny object in the wall of the mine in some yellow ground (yellow kimberlite ground which is oxidized blue ground which can be found in any mine). At first he thought it was a piece of glass. It turned out to be the biggest diamond ever found. He received the sum of 2,000 for this discovery. Thomas Cullinan, the owner, estimated its value at around six million Dutch Guilders, and it was given the name of its owner.

This fabulous amount of money caused many sales problems: nobody was financially strong enough to buy the stone to have a jewel made from it. The South African government solved the problem by buying the diamond for 1,800.000 and offered it to King Edward VII on the occasion of his 66th birthday (9 Nov. 1907) to thank him for the recently acquired autonomy of Transvaal.
The stone was sent to London by regular mail] while a copy which was insured for US$ 1.250.000, was transported via a different route (accompanied by a spectacular convoy) The king entrusted the then very famous cutter I.J. Asscher, president of the Asscher Society, with the cutting of the stone, together with some other important stones.

The structure and purity of the stone were studied for several months. Several facsimiles were made to try out every different way of cleaving and sawing, in order to obtain the best results.On 10 February 1908 Asscher decided to cleave the stone into three parts. He first made a perfect V- shape kerf. Asscher gave the final blow in the presence of some ten people in a tense atmosphere.

He placed a large iron knife in the kerf and took an iron bar in his right hand and held it high above his head. The blow was so fierce that the knife broke to pieces, with out however altering the stone in any way. According to some Mr. Asscher lost consciousness, because he thought he had broken the stone. When he recovered he gave the ultimate blow and divided the stone a first and later a second time. The stones, from which the flaws were now removed, were passed on to the famous polisher H. Koe. He polished the stones on a scalfe twice the normal size which was driven at the speed of around 2,200 r.p.m.

The principal stone left the polishing works as a pear-shape with 74 facets and weighed 530.20 carat and it still is the largest polished diamond in the world. Its name is the Cullinan I. The king had this exceptionally white and pure gem placed in his sceptre, and it can now be admired in the Tower of London ( it now also bears the elegant name of "Great Star of Imperial Africa". The other eight stones are called "The Lesser Stones of Africa". The Cullinan II has the shape of a cushion, rectangular with rounded edges with 66 facets and weighs 317.40 carat. It was placed in the crown and can also be admired in The Tower. The "Stuart" sapphire, which used to be in the middle of the crown was moved backwards to make place for the Cullinan II.

The Cullinan III is a pear of 94.40 carat and was placed in the crown of Queen Mary.

The Cullinan IV also has the shape of a cushion and weighs 53.60 carat. These two stones were offered to the )Young Queen Mary by the South-African government in June 1910. They were rebought from Asscher by South Africa, because, by contract the other stones remained the property of the jeweller. The Cullinan V is a pear of 18,80 carat which is placed in a pendant, which can also be worn as a broach, intended for Queen Mary, but it was later used as a replacement for the Koh-I-Noor, which on its turn was placed in the crown of Queen Elisabeth.
The Cullinan VI is a marquise of 11.50 carat which the king rebought from Asscher to present it to Queen Alexandra. It was placed in a necklace surrounded by emeralds and it is now Queen Elisabeth's favorite jewel. The Cullinan VII is a marquise of 8.80 carat, placed in a brooch together with the Cullinan VIII, an oval cushion of 6,80 carat. The Cullinan IX is a pear of 4.39 carat which is placed in an engraved ring presented to Queen Mary. It now belongs to Queen Elisabeth II.

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The Koh-I-Noor

Koh-I-Noor, "Mountain of Light", this is the pregnant name which was given to the eldest of the famous diamonds which weighs 186 carat. It was discovered some 700 years ago on the banks of an Indian river: the Godavari river according to some,Djoumna-river according to others, in the vicinity of the Ganges-river.

Legend has it that a newly-born was found close to the stone, who should have been Prince Kama, the son of Sourja (the Sun-God) and a princess. The stone was lost in the heat of the fight, but a woman found it and offered it to the Shiva-temple, where it adorned the forehead of the god instead of the third eye. Shiva announced: " He who owns the diamond shall rule the world but will fall on evil days because only a god or a woman may wear it unpunished."

In 1304 the stone was in the possession of the Kajah of Malwa, but it then had a different name. In 1525 the Mogul ruler Baberand and his son conquered the Delhian sultanates. In gratitude to the victor for not having plundered the land of his enemies, he was given the Koh-I-Noor by the family of Sultan Ibrahim. For two centuries the stone formed a part of the treasures of the Mogul emperors, till the empire collapsed during the reign of Mahar-nad Farukh.

General Nadir named himself Shah after having conquered neighboring countries and left for India to conquer the throne, which was weakened during sultan Mahamad's reign.

The emperor lost the decisive battle and had to subject to the demands of the victor, who left him his life, but took a fabulous loot in compensation. Surprisinglr the jewels in which the Koh-I-Noor was placed were not among the loot.

Shah Nadir invited his former rival to a reconciliation banquet and also to celebrate his marriage to the princess of the imperial family and that of his son with the daughter of the emperor. During the banquet Shah Nadir proposed to exchange turbans. In order to maintain the peace, the emperor consented. After the exchange, Nadir retired and unrolled the turban, out of which the shiny diamond fell. "Oh Koh-I-Noor!" (Mountain of light) thesultan cried out.

But the stone did not bring any good luck. Shortly afterwards he was murdered by his partners.
The stone then changed hands of several rulers to finally end up in the hands of the "Lion of Penjab", Ranjeet Singh. When he was asked the value of the stone he answered: "Take five brave men. Let the first throw a stone to the North, the second to the East, the third to the South, the fourth to the West and the fifth in the air. The volume in between and filled with gold will not suffice to cover the value of the Koh-I-Noor."

The Maharajah of Lahore had the diamond set in an enamelled gold brace let, which remained in his treasun- many years after his death. In the mean time it had been rudimental?l polished. It weighed around 186 caret and was confiscated by the Indian Company in 1H49. Lord Lawrence confiscated all Lahore treasures after the war with the Sikh.

Then the stone was presented to Queen Victoria, who had become empress of India in 1877.
The stone left India and was displayed in London at Saint James Palace in 1850 at the occasion of the 25()th anniversary - of the establishment of the Indian Company.

A few years later it was displayed at "crystal Palace". The public was greatly disappointed because due to the bad cut, the "Mountain of Light" was not as full of life as the new brilliants cut at the time.

Queen Victoria therefore decided to have it repolished by- Mr.Voorzinger in the presence of Prince Alhert and the Duke of \wellington_ The stone was cut into an oval of 108,93 carat and showed :In exceptional brilliance.

After the cutting, which took 3H days Queen Victoria had the diamond set in a broach and because of its legendary past, had it stipulated in her testament that the Koh-I-Noor could only!- be worn by a ruling head of state if it was a woman. If the sovereign would be man his wife should wear it. In 1937 the stone was set in the royal crown of Queen Elisabeth.

It is now a part of the Crown Jewels in the Tower of London. Only recently the Indian Parliament has officially asked it back.lt mar be clear now that the perils surrounding the KohiNoor have not ended yet