The word diamond is derived from the Greek word ‘adámas’, which means “unbreakable” or “unbreakable”. Diamonds have been known to us since at least the 8th century BC and are believed to have been first discovered in the Indian subcontinent.
Diamond is the hardest material found naturally on earth.
Today, diamonds are used as gemstones to make decorative items such as jewelry or as a cutting and polishing tool in various industries.
Although diamonds are more valuable, they are relatively more common than rare gems such as alexandrite.
The global annual production of rough diamonds was 139 million carats in 2019.
How are diamonds described?
Diamonds are graded or described based on four characteristics, or four C’s; these are its mass (in carats), cut (symmetry, proportion and polish of its design), color and clarity (internal appearance).
The color of a diamond is affected by its chemical impurities and structural defects.
The value of a diamond can either increase or decrease depending on its color and intensity.
Below we have compiled a list of the largest diamonds in the world.
This includes historically significant diamonds as well as those cut from larger ones.
Golden Jubilee Diamond
Golden Jubilee Diamond
The brown-colored Golden Jubilee diamond is the largest cut diamond (of any color) in the world and about 15.37 carats heavier than the Cullinan I.
Coincidentally, the Golden Jubilee was discovered from the same diamond mine (Premier mine in South Africa) as the Cullinan.
The diamond was originally called the “Unnamed Brown” but was changed to Golden Jubilee sometime in 2000 by King Bhumibol, the former King of Thailand.
The Golden Jubilee diamond received a papal blessing from Pope John Paul II in the Vatican, the Buddhist Supreme Patriarch of Thailand, and Chularatchamontri, the Islamic head in Thailand.
Over the years, the Golden Jubilee diamond has been exhibited in several different locations around the world, including Basel in Switzerland and Palo Alto, California in the United States.
The Millennium Star Diamond
The Millennium Star is currently the second largest known colorless diamond in the world.
The diamond was acquired by De Beers, a British diamond mining and retail company, amid a civil war in the mid-1990s.
It was first publicly displayed in 1999 as part of the iconic De Beers Millennium Diamond Collection.
The Millennium Diamond was first publicly displayed in 1999 as part of the De Beers Millennium Diamond Collection.
9. Great Mogul Diamond
A replica of Great Mogul Diamond | Image courtesy: Wikipedia
The Great Mogul, the world’s ninth largest diamond, is believed to have been discovered in 1650 from the Kollur mine, located in the state of Andhra Pradesh, India.
In his journal, Tavernier described the diamond as; “The stone is of the same shape as if one were to cut an egg through the middle.”
The Great Mogul Diamond mysteriously disappeared in the mid-1700s and has never been found, at least not in its former state.
However, many historians believe that the lost diamond was recut to create the Orlov diamond.
The Orlov, which weighs more than 189 carats, was found in southern India in the 17th century.
It was named by the Russian Empress Catherine the Great after Count Grigory Orlov, who presented the diamond to her as a gift.
The Koh-i-Noor, also spelled Kohinoor, is perhaps one of the most popular and controversial diamonds on earth.
It was discovered, quite possibly in the 12th century, from the Kollur mine (located in Andhra Pradesh, India) and was part of many historically important crown jewels and ornaments.
The diamond changed hands several times before it was acquired by the British Empire under Queen Victoria in 1849 and transported to Britain shortly thereafter.
There it was recut from 191 carats to its current size in 1852.
For decades, the Kohinoor diamond has been a source of diplomatic tension between India, Pakistan, Afghanistan and the United Kingdom, with each claiming to be its rightful owner.
Lesotho 910 carat diamond is the sixth largest gem-quality diamond in the world.
It was discovered in 2018 in the Letseng diamond mine in Lesotho, a small African nation surrounded by South Africa.
According to Gem Diamonds, the diamond mining company that owns Letseng Mine, the Lesotho 910 carat diamond was sold for $40 million.
It was not the first time that an expensive diamond was found in Letseng mine.
In 2015, a 357 carat diamond from the same mine was sold for around $20 million.
Star of Sierra Leone was a large gem-quality stone discovered near the village of Koidu in Sierra Leone in West Africa.
It is currently the fourth largest gem-quality diamond in the world.
It is also one of the rarest types of diamonds that have no chemical impurities.
A few months after its discovery, the diamond was bought by a New York City jeweler for $2.5 million.
The initial cut weight of the diamond was 143.2 carats.
A later re-cutting of the gem yielded 17 smaller diamonds, thirteen of which are virtually flawless.
5. Excelsior Diamond
The Excelsior was the largest diamond in the world before the Cullinan discovery in 1905.
At the time of its discovery, the rough stone weighed 971 carats (about 194.2 grams) and was shaped roughly like a leaf.
In 1903, the diamond was cut into 11 pieces of different weights.
At the time, the decision to cut the Excelsior into smaller pieces received widespread criticism.
Experts also expressed that the diamond had to be cut to produce a single largest diamond.
In the 1990s, Excelsior I (69.68 carats) sold for about $2,642,000.
4. 1,098 Carat Diamond
On June 1, 2021, Botswana-based mining company Debswana discovered one of the world’s largest diamonds weighing 1,098 carats (219.6 grams).
It is now the third largest diamond and is still nameless.
Original weight: 1,111 carats
Original weight: 1,111 carats
Lesedi La Rona is the fourth largest gem-quality diamond in the world.
The diamond was bought by British jeweler Graff for $53 million in 2017, two years after it was discovered in Botswana.
In 2019, the diamond was cut and transformed into a single large diamond Graff Lesedi La Rona weighing 302.37 carats, and 66 smaller ones.
The diamond was initially named Karowe AK6, after the mine where it was found.
The discovery of Lesedi La Rona was made using an X-ray activated large diamond recovery machine, TOMRA.
A portrait of Queen Mary wearing four of the largest Cullinan diamonds.
On January 26, 1905, a diamond 10.1 cm long and 6.3 cm wide was extracted from a mine in the small town of Cullinan, South Africa.
It was three times the size of the Excelsior diamond.
It was named after the mine’s then chairman, Thomas Cullinan.
In 1907, the diamond was bought by the Transvaal Colony (a former British colony in present-day South Africa) for £150,000 as a gift to Edward VII, the King of England.
Read: 20 Interesting Facts About Diamonds | Properties and uses
Cullinan III, also known as Lesser Star of Africa, is a pear-shaped diamond weighing approximately 18.8 g (94.4 carats) and is sometimes worn by Elizabeth II, Queen of the United Kingdom.
In 1911, Queen Mary wore four of the largest Cullinan diamonds, including Cullinan III during her first State Opening of Parliament.
1. Cullinan I: The world’s largest transparent diamond
Nine of the largest diamonds cut from the Cullinan rough (Cullinan I top center)
Cut weight: 530.2 carats
Cut weight: 530.2 carats
Cut weight: 530.2 carats
Cut weight: 530.2 carats
Cut weight: 530.2 carats
Cut weight: 530.2 carats
In 1905, an enormous diamond weighing 3,106 carats was discovered in a mine located in Cullinan town, Transvaal Colony (part of modern South Africa).
It was soon after named the Cullinan diamond.
At the time of its discovery, the Cullinan was three times the size of the Excelsior diamond at 972 carats.
After King Edward VII received the Cullinan as a gift in 1907, he ordered it cut down and polished into several smaller pieces.
As a result, the diamond was divided into nine large and almost a hundred smaller ones.
The largest of the nine pieces, Cullinan I, is a pear-shaped diamond with a total of 74 facets (flat geometric planes).
Weighing 530.2 carats, Cullinan I is the eleventh largest diamond in the world.
In 1992 Cullinan I was surpassed by Golden Jubilee Diamond as the largest cut diamond in the world of any color.
However, the former remains the largest clear cut diamond.