Largest Diamond In The World

We were talking about the huge 5-carat diamond ring that Brantley Gilbert used to propose to Jana Kramer last weekend.  A diamond that big could be as much as $75-thousand.  But it's not close to the largest diamond in the world.

The Cullinan - a 3,106 carat diamond was discovered at the Premier mine in Pretoria, South Africa.  It's weight - about one and a half pounds.  Obviously too large to be used as jewelry, so after six months of planning it was divided into manageable pieces by a diamond cutter who was so concerned about how his own heart would hold up, he had a doctor stand by as he made the first cut.

He nearly shattered it on his first try, but he managed to divide it with his second blow. Then he fainted.

The Cullinan was later cut into 106 polished diamonds, valued at millions of dollars. The largest of them is the "Star of Africa I”. It’s 530 carats and the largest-cut fine-quality colorless diamond in the world. That diamond’s worth alone is estimated at more than $400-million.

As a gift, South Africa presented that diamond along with the smaller "Star of Africa II," to Britain's King Edward the Seventh. Both are kept in the Tower of London along with the other Crown Jewels.

The Cullinan was found on January 26th in 1905.