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54 A Book of Precious Stones
office
and its importance was quickly realised. The stone was weighed and
found to register exactly 3253-3/4 carats. Immediately the news was
transmitted by telegraph and cable to all parts of the world that the
world's greatest diamond had been discovered. The stone was christened
" The Cullinan Diamond " after Mr. T. N. Cullinan, the chairman of the
Premier (Transvaal) Diamond Company. At the inÂstance of Premier Botha,
the Transvaal AsÂsembly presented the great diamond to King Edward VII.
in recognition of his granting a constitution to the Transvaal Colony.
As stated, the diamond, rough, weighed 3253-3/4 carats, and measured
four by two and one-half by one to two inches. The stone had four
cleavage planes, which led experts to surmise that other pieces of the
same stone are still in the mines. To one who was not familiar with
diamonds the great diamond nearly resembled a piece of ice.
The
occurrence of this stone is interesting because it was in a locality
that many experts regarded as a place of meagre possibilities, as
compared with the steadily producing mines at Kimberley. Diamonds had,
indeed, been found in both the alluvial along the Vaal River and in
allu-
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