Other large diamonds
1. The Portuguese crown has many large and brilliant
diamonds.
2. The Brazilian Government is in possession of some
large and curious stones.
3. The Spanish Government was also very rich in
diamonds and other jewels.
4. The Russian treasury had a brilliant ruby coloured
diamond of 10 carats.
5. The Turkish Government is said to. have two large
diamonds of 84 and 147 carats in weight.
Many
large diamonds of brilliancy and weight are in Burma and China, and
with the Indian Princes and Nobility and also in the families of the
Burdwan Maharaj, Nawab of Dacca, etc., and also some rich families in
Calcutta, e.g. Tagore Brilliant, Sukh-tara, etc.
6. The Cullinan was
found in the Premier mine, near Pretoria, Transvaal, on 25th January,
1905. It measured 4x2-1/2x2 inches and weighed 621-20 grams = 3,106
carats = 1-3695 lb. avoirdupois, named after the Chairman of the
Premier Co., Sir Thomas Cullinan. It was presented to King Edward VII.
This perfectly clear and colourless stone was cleaved and cut in
Amsterdam into 9 larger and 96 small brilliants. These are with the
crown jewels— other large stones from the Premier mine were of
1,683-1/2 carats in 1912 and 1,500 carats in 1924.
7. Excelsior was found in 1893 in Jagersfontein mine in Orange Free State. It weighed 995-2 carats.
8. Jonker was
obtained from Elandsfontein alluvial workings, near the Premier mine.
It was sold to the Diamond Corporation for £75,000 and passed to an
American dealer for almost double this amount.
9. Jubilee, another
large stone from the Jagersfontein mine in Orange Free State, was found
in 1895, and was cut in 1897. It was a flattened and rounded octahedron
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