Miners at the Premier Mine near Pretoria unearthed the Cullinan diamond on Janua

Featured Event 1905 Event

Cullinan Discovered: World's Largest Diamond Found

Miners at the Premier Mine near Pretoria unearthed the Cullinan diamond on January 26, 1905, a stone so massive that the mine's superintendent initially thought it was a piece of glass someone had planted as a joke. At 3,106 carats, it weighed roughly 1.37 pounds and was more than three times the size of any diamond previously discovered. The Transvaal Colony government purchased the stone for 150,000 pounds and presented it to King Edward VII as a gesture of reconciliation after the Boer Wars. The king entrusted the Amsterdam firm of Asscher to cleave it, a task so nerve-wracking that the cutter reportedly fainted after the first successful strike. The stone yielded nine major gems and 96 smaller stones. The two largest, the Great Star of Africa and the Second Star of Africa, are now set in the British Crown Jewels and Sovereign's Sceptre.

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January 26, 1905

121 years ago

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Cullinan Discovered: World's Largest Diamond Found

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