The diamond engagement ring you bought from Rings.org.uk will certainly glitter and sparkle on your finger but did you know that its cousins are some of the largest diamonds and the most valuable gemstones in the world.
The diamond engagement ring is the Birthstone for April and those born under the star sign Aries. Having said that, diamonds are every girls best friend and these dazzling gemstones make a beautiful Engagement Ring, eternity ring or every day fashion ring.
Five of the top diamonds that have been found worldwide are too large for an engagement ring and are set into crown jewels and on display in museums so that everyone can enjoy them.
These diamonds are The Golden Jubilee, The Incomparable, Cullinan Diamond, The Spirit of de Grisogono and the De Beers Diamond, all found in the last 100 years and all precious and treasured gemstones.
# 1 The Golden Jubilee (pictured)
Discovered in the Premier Mine in South Africa in 1985, the 545.67 carat rose coloured diamond named as The Golden Jubilee is the largest faceted diamond in the world. Originally the diamond was called the Unnamed Brown and Ugly Duckling, however was presented in 1997 to the King of Thailand for the 50th anniversary of his coronation. It’s insurance value? A cool £7.5 million!
# 2 The Incomparable
An incomparable treasure hunting story in its own league, The Incomparable diamond weighing 890 carats was found by a girl in the Democratic Republic of Congo in the 1980’s. She was playing in rubble outside her Uncle’s home and came across the gemstone amongst the dirt. The internally flawless brown-yellow diamond sold in 1988 in a Christie’s auction for £12 million and resurfaced but remained unsold on an Ebay auction in 2002 with an asking bid of £15 million!
# 3 The Cullinan or Star of Africa
There are two world famous Cullinan diamonds, cut from the largest diamond ever found. The 3106 carat Cullinan Diamond was divided into 9 large diamonds, 96 smaller diamonds and 9.5 carats of unpolished pieces. The Cullinan I diamond is the largest of the 9 diamonds cut from the 3106 carat and is 530.20 carats on its own. The diamonds are part of the Crown Jewels. The Cullinan 9 or Cullinan IX is worn by Queen Elizabeth as a ring.
# 4 The Spirit of de Grisogono
The Spirit of de Grisogono is the world’s largest cut black diamond, 587 carats uncut and 312.24 carats when cut. The Spirit of de Grisogono was discovered in West Central Africa and imported to Switzerland to be cut by Swiss jeweller De Grisogono. Set into a type of Engagement Ring and bought by a private collector, the value of this rare and stunning diamond is unknown.
# 5 The De Beers Diamond
Included in Rings.org.uk’s top five diamonds, The De Beers Diamond is said to be the 8th largest faceted diamond in the world. This magnificent diamond in rough form weighed 428.50 carats and was nearly half a metre wide. In 1928, Cartier of Paris chose The De Beers Diamond as the centrepiece for a necklace known as the Patiala Necklace, after the Maharaja of Patiala who had previously purchased the stone. In total the necklace weighed 962.25 carats including 2930 other diamonds. This amazing diamond necklace was sadly broken up over the years with the exclusive centrepiece stone surfacing in the Sotheby’s auction in May 1982 where a bid of over £1.5 million failed to meet the undisclosed reserve.
If you were the girl from the Congo and found a diamond in the rough, what would you do? Would it make the diamond engagement ring you were looking for or would you choose a smaller stone for your Engagement Ring? No matter the size, always check the carat, colour, clarity and cut to make sure your diamond engagement ring looks amazing for when you’re world famous too.