Cullinan Diamond
The Cullinan Diamond is the largest gem-quality rough diamond ever found, weighing , discovered at the Premier No. 2 mine in Cullinan, South Africa, on 26 January 1905. It was named after Thomas Cullinan, the mine's chairman.
Cullinan Diamond
Cullinan I, or the Great Star of Africa, is a pendeloque-cut brilliant weighing and has 74 facets. It is set at the top of the Sovereign's Sceptre with Cross which had to be redesigned in 1910 to accommodate it. Cullinan I was surpassed as the world's largest cut diamond of any colour by the Golden Jubilee Diamond in 1992, but is still the largest clear cut diamond in the world. In terms of clarity, it has a few tiny cleavages and a small patch of graining. The diamond is fitted with loops and can be taken out of its setting to be worn as a pendant suspended from Cullinan II to make a brooch. Queen Mary, wife of George V, often wore it like this. In 1908, the stone was valued at US$2.5 million (equivalent to US$ million in )– two and a half times the rough Cullinan's estimated value.