If diamonds are a girl's best friend, the Wittelsbach would make one heck of a BFF. The 35.56-carat blue diamond dates back to the 17th century, when King Philip IV of Spain selected the jewel to be part of his daughter's dowry. The diamond passed among Austrian and Bavarian royalty for centuries, but after World War I Bavaria became a republic and the jewel was repossessed by the state. Christie's auction house tried to sell it in 1931 but apparently found no buyers. The diamond disappeared for a few decades only to resurface in 1962. A private collector purchased it in 1964, but sold it in 2008 for $23.4 million.
The Largest Diamonds Ever Discovered
Diamonds are forever… Diamonds are a girl’s best friend… Whatever cliche you want to use, the fact is the world loves diamonds. This incredibly hard and beautifully sparkling type of precious stone has been a coveted item for centuries. An estimated $13 billion worth of rough diamonds are taken out of the ground each year, the majority weighing just a few carats (1 carat = 0.007055 oz). But every now and again, a monster diamond is found, big enough to amaze the exhausted miners who find it, and when eventually cut into a diamond gemstone, these are grandiose enough to impress even the wealthiest of the world’s royalty.
This list of the 10 largest uncut rough diamonds will no doubt evolve in coming years, as the diamond industry is huge – and unsurprisingly, worth a fortune. Ten million people worldwide work in this industry with a value of $72 billion a year. As recently as 2013 two huge rough diamonds were found at the Karowe mine in Botswana, Southern Africa, both coming in at over 200 carats each (1.4 oz). And yet neither of these diamonds makes the top 20, never mind the top 10.
Some of these diamonds have become famous, with fascinating histories behind them. The diamonds in the top two positions on our list are vastly different, but are so massive that the chances of finding their equals are infinitesimally small. That is, unless NASA ever decides to take a mining crew to the prosaically-named planet PSR J1719-1438 b, which has a mass greater than the sun, and is believed to be composed mostly of crystalline carbon – better known to the layperson as diamond. Fortunately for the mining companies worried about cheap space gems, this diamond planet is about 3,900 light years (around 23,000 trillion miles) away!
This giant gem, found in South Africa in 1934, was found by a settler called Johannes Jacobus Jonker, hence its unusual moniker. It’s believed the rough diamond was eventually cut into 13 smaller gemstones, with the largest diamond, the Jonker I, still weighing in at an incredible 142.9 carats. Diamonds are valued by weight, color, clarity and various other factors. However, with a colorless flawless diamond valued at $26,125 per carat, the Jonker I could be worth as much as $3.7 million!
Beating the Jonker by a whisper is this Brazilian diamond discovered in 1938. This one was named for Getúlio Dornelles Vargas, who was the President of Brazil at the time. The diamond eventually found its way to Amsterdam and was finally bought by someone not only famous in jewelry circles, but who has also become synonymous with the industry as a whole: American jeweler, Harry Winston. Twenty-nine smaller stones were cut from this rock, with the largest being a flawless 44.17 carat gem which had been re-cut by Winston himself.
Extracted in South Africa in 1985, this beauty was actually given a papal blessing from Pope John Paul II after it had been cut and polished. Diamond specialists worked for years on this rough diamond, managing to eventually produce a cut and faceted diamond that weighed an enormous 545.67 carats, making it the largest finished diamond in the world. It is currently owned by the Royal Family of Thailand. At $26,125 a carat, this incredible diamond could be worth over $14 million if it had been colorless. However, as it is a yellow-brown color, it is “only” valued at $4-$12 million.
Named after the river it was found in, this rock from the famous African diamond-producing nation of Sierra Leone was announced in 1945. Eventually the rough diamond was cut into thirty smaller pieces, wielding colorless and flawless gemstones. These stunning diamonds may be questionable, however, for those concerned with human rights: Sierra Leone is famous for blood diamonds; diamonds that have been mined in areas considered war zones and then sold on to help finance further military activity (usually anti-establishment guerrilla warfare).
This large rough diamond was found in the Democratic Republic of Congo in 1990. An estimated 65% of the world’s diamonds come from African nations, and this nation yielded an astonishing cut diamond weighing 203.04 carats. This makes it the second largest colorless and flawless diamond in the world (with the highest purity rating of D; the scale goes from D to Z). It is currently owned by the De Beers Group, a diamond industry controlling company which was founded by the British mining explorer Cecil Rhodes. At carat weight alone, the final cut diamond would be worth at least $5 million. But because of its fame, purity and its irreplaceable nature, this gem has been valued at over $160 million.
At 890 carats (just over 6 oz) this Congolese rough diamond was discovered by a young girl in 1989. The smart child noticed the diamond in a pile of rubble and passed it on to her uncle, who sold it to diamond dealers. Like many of the world’s diamonds, it ended up at one point in the Belgian city of Antwerp, famous for its diamond district. It took experts years to cut the rough diamond into smaller gems, but they managed to create a beautiful yellow-brown stone weighing 407.48 carats that had been cut into an unusual triangular shape. Strangely enough, this fantastic gemstone actually appeared on eBay in 2002, but went unsold.
TOP 10 MOST EXPENSIVE DIAMONDS IN THE WORLD
This diamond is named after Major Alfred Ernest Allnatt — he was one of the holders of the diamond. The Allnatt diamond has size of 101.29 carat (20.258 g) with a cushion cut. The diamond color is rated as fancy vivid Yellow by the Gemological Institute of America. No one know precisely where the diamond was found, but some experts say that the diamond was found where the De Beers premier diamond mine now located.
The Moussaieff Red Diamond : $7 Million.
The Moussaieff Red Diamond is 5.11 carats (1.022 g) diamond with a triangular brilliant cut that is rated as Fancy Red in colour by the Gemological Institute of America (GIA). Although Moussaieff is relatively small compared to other expensive diamonds, this is the largest fancy red ever rated by GIA.
The Heart of Eternity : $16 Million.
The Heart of Eternity is a 27.64 carats (5.528 g) diamond with a color rated as Fancy Vivid Blue by the Gemological Institute of America. This diamond is a very rare class of colored diamond. It was cut by the Steinmetz group before it sold to De Beers Group. The diamond itself was found in a premier diamond mine in South Africa.
Wittelsbach Diamond : $16.4 Million.
The Wittelsbach diamond (Der Blaue Wittelsbacher) is a 35.36 carat (7.11 g) blue diamond with a size of 40 mm in diameter with 8.29 mm in depth and VS 2 in clarity. It has become part of both Austrian and Bavarian crown jewels, with color and clarity that has been compared to the Hope Diamond.
The Steinmetz Pink : $25 Million.
The Steinmetz Pink is a 59.60 carat (11.92 g) diamond that is rated as Vivid Pink by the Gemological Institute of America.
De Beers Centenary Diamond: $100 Million.
The De Beers Centenary Diamond was classified as D level by the Gemological Institute of America. It’s the highest grade of a diamond that is colorless flawless. The diamond itself is 273.85 carats (54.77 grams) in weight. This diamond is the 3rd largest diamond that has been produced by De Beer’s Premier Mine.
The Hope Diamond: $350 Million.
The Hope Diamond is a 45.52 carat (9.10 gram) large diamond that is now located in the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History in Washington DC. The diamond looks blue in color to the naked eye because the number of traces of boron in the crystal structure but it shines red under ultraviolet light.
Most Expensive Diamonds in the World
For thousand of years, most expensive diamond become one of the most popular collection of the rich and the king. Diamond is one of the most wanted mining products. You can be rich instantly if you found a big and rare diamond in the backyard of your house. These most expensive diamond are the most wanted one that almost all people in the world want to save in their mansion or palace. Let’s take a look at those most expensive diamond in the world
10. The Allnatt Diamond : $ 3 Millions
This diamond is named after Major Alfred Ernest Allnatt. He was one of the holders of the diamond. The Allnatt diamond has size of 101.29 carat (20.258 g) with a cushion cut. The diamond color is rated as fancy vivid Yellow by the Gemological Institute of America. No one know precisely where the diamond was found. But some expert say that the diamond was found where the De Beers premier diamond mine now located.
9. The Moussaieff Red Diamond : $ 7 Millions
The Moussaieff Red Diamond is 5.11 carats (1.022 g) diamond with triangular brilliant cut that rated as Fancy Red in colour by the Gemologial Institute of America (GIA). Although Moussaieff is relatively small compared to other expensive diamond, this is the largest fancy red ever rated by GIA.
8. The Heart of Eternity : $16 Millions
The Heart of Eternity is a 27.64 carats (5.528 g) diamond with a color rated as Fancy Vivid Blue by the Gemological Institue of America. This diamond is very rare class of colored diamond. It was cut by the Steinmetz group before sold to De Beers Group. The diamond itself was found in premier diamond mine in South Africa.
7. Wittelsbach Diamond : $ 16.4 Millions
The Wittelsbach diamond (Der Blaue Wittelsbacher) is a 35.36 carats (7.11 g) blue diamond with size of 40 mm in diameter with 8.29 mm in depth and VS 2 in clarity. It was become part of both Austrian and Bavarian crown jewels, with color and clarity has been compared to the Hope Diamond (you can see below on No. 4)
De Beers Centenary Diamond: $ 100 Millions
The De Beers Centenary Diamond were classified as D levels by the Gemological Institute of America. It’s the highest grade of a diamond that colorless and internally and externally flawless. The diamond itself is 273.85 carats (54.77 grams) in weight. This diamond is the 3rd largest diamond has been produced by De Beer’s Premier Mine.
The hope diamond is 45.52 carats (9.10 grams) large diamond that now located in the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History in Washington DC. The diamond looks blue in color to the naked eye because the number of traces of boron in the crystal structure but It shine a red phosphor under ultraviolet light.
The Sancy diamond is 55.23 carat (11.05 grams) of pale yellow diamond that once was famous as the belonging of the Great Moguls. It’s believed that the diamond is Indian origin. This is the first large diamonds to be cut with symmetrical facets. The stone is also unusual because it has no pavilion – just a pair of crowns, one on the other. This historical diamond is now kept in the French Crown Jewel collection housed at the Louvre.
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