Huge white diamond Recently discovered Discovered in Botswana, the diamond weighing over one pound is the largest diamond found in over a century and the second largest ever found. As with any large diamond find, it has made headlines around the world.
But such finds have lost some of their magic: This latest find will no doubt be carefully fashioned into a few stones and delivered to some corporate headquarters or placed in a collector's safe, rather than traveling around the world to large audiences.
There are famous diamonds that are associated with legends and romance. The 105.6 carat Koh-i-Noor The jewel in the crown Its origin and discovery are unknown, but it is covered with precious stones. Peacock ThroneIt was made for the Mughal Emperor in 1635. When Nadir Shah of Persia invaded North India in 1739, his troops sacked the city of Delhi and took the Peacock Throne as part of the spoils.
The stone was later passed to Ahmad Shah Durrani, founder of the Afghan Empire, then to the Sikh ruler Ranjit Singh (at the time monarchs would give each other gems as thanks for various favours), and finally to Queen Victoria when the East India Company annexed the Punjab in 1849. Another stone seized along with the Peacock Throne is the world's largest pink diamond. Dalia-i-Noor — Now owned by the Iranian government.
of Hope DiamondPerhaps the world's most famous “golden crown” is housed at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History. But the crown had quite an adventure before ending up in its case in Washington. It was purchased in India in the 1600s by a French merchant, recut, and sold to King Louis IV of France. It was stolen during the French Revolution, only to be recut and resurface 50 years later in the collection of London banking heir Henry Hope. It was exhibited at the Great Exhibition in London in 1851.
It's a beautiful deep blue color, over an inch in diameter, and appears to fluoresce. It passed through the hands of the Hope heirs and was eventually purchased by Cartier, who sold it to a socialite and the daughter of a mining heir. Evelyn Walsh McLeanFor centuries, it The myth of the curseLegend has it that it would bring bad luck to its owner. Harry Winston purchased the ring in 1949 and exhibited it around the world. In 1958, he donated it by mail to the Smithsonian Institution.
The Hope Diamond is truly an exceptional diamond. But modern mining and X-ray techniques have led to the discovery of larger diamonds. Several giant diamonds have been found in the last few decades alone. Botswana's Karowe mine (the site of this week's discovery) has produced four diamonds over 1,000 carats in the past decade.
But these don't really capture the imagination: they don't even have names.
Even some of the more recent discoveries that have been given names have been less creative. A South African stone found in 2002 is apparently the size of a golf ball. The largest white diamond ever sold at auction is Sold by Christie's It will be sold to an anonymous buyer for $33 million in 2022. What's the name of this rock? “The Rock.”
The even more boringly named 342-carat “26th Congress of the Communist Party of the USSR” (for real) was discovered in 1980. It is still Russian Government CollectionIt may be a beautiful piece of jewelry, but it's hardly a story that will inspire the imagination.
But in some ways, diamonds have become less important, and therefore less interesting to us. For those who want something sparkly, there are plenty of options: Cubic zirconia has been around since the 1970s, and Swarovski promised “diamonds for everyone” with its crystals long before they actually created diamonds in a lab.
Lab diamonds have made real gems relatively affordable, while fake sparkle is shockingly cheap. You can find clothes studded with plastic rhinestones at any fast fashion store, with a level of gaudyness that would have left a medieval peasant in awe. You can even wear diamante prongs, if you so desire.
We are no longer limited to what the Earth gives us – gemstones created through geological processes and carefully cut by jewelers into light-reflecting facets.
Diamonds may be forever, but our interests are not.
Katrina Gulliver A historian and freelance writer, she writes for Substack. Notes from the field
