Petra Diamonds
The Cullinan mine continues to produce large stones. The Cullinan Heritage, a white diamond, was discovered in September 2009. This stone was the 19th biggest uncut diamond ever found and was sold in February 2010 to Chow Tai Fook Jewellery for $35.5m, the highest price ever paid for an uncut diamond. The previous record was held by Gem Diamonds' Leseli La Letšeng, which was bought for $18.4m by Graff Diamonds in December 2008.
Excelsior Diamond
Finally, after the diamond sat in the vault waiting for a buyer for many years, the owners made the decision to cut the stone into several smaller stones. This decision meant that the Excelsior would never be a single large spectacular faceted stone. At the time, the manager of the De Beers diamond syndicate said that the dividing of the stone into many small pieces was "the greatest tragedy of modern times in the history of famous diamonds". In retrospect, diamond experts feel that it should have been cut to yield a single large diamond. Why it was not, remains a mystery. By contrast, the owners of the Cullinan Diamond cut that stone in such a way that the largest faceted diamond in the world came from it. The fate of the Excelsior kept it out of the Smithsonian or other historical museums. It was cut without regard to its historical significance, divided into small, easily sold assorted stones. The named pieces were: