- Home
- Premium Memberships
- Lottery Results
- Forums
- Predictions
- Lottery Post Videos
- News
- Search Drawings
- Search Lottery Post
- Lottery Systems
- Lottery Charts
- Lottery Wheels
- Worldwide Jackpots
- Quick Picks
- On This Day in History
- Blogs
- Online Games
- Premium Features
- Contact Us
- Whitelist Lottery Post
- Rules
- Lottery Book Store
- Lottery Post Gift Shop
The time is now 6:10 am
You last visited
May 12, 2024, 6:10 am
All times shown are
Eastern Time (GMT-5:00)
DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER: "Great Star of Africa,"Prev TopicNext Topic
-
he Imperial State Crown and Sovereign's Scepter rest atop the coffin of Britain's Queen Elizabeth II. The Scepter includes Cullinan I, also known as the "Great Star of Africa," the largest colorless cut diamond in the world. It weighs more than 530 carats. The Cullinan II, weighing 105.6 carats, is the second-largest cut diamond in the world and is the centerpiece of the Imperial State Crown.
In 1905, the Premier Mine near Pretoria, South Africa, was only 2 years old, but it was already one of the most productive diamond mines in the world. One morning the mine's superintendent, Frederick Wells, was conducting a routine inspection 18 feet (5.5 meters) below the surface when a glint of sparkling rock caught his attention on the wall above. Using a penknife, he pried out a large, misshapen hunk of what he assumed to be worthless rock crystal.
After all, a rock that big — more than a pound in weight and roughly the dimensions of a human heart — couldn't possibly be a diamond. But he was wrong. It was indeed a diamond.
What Is the Cullinan Diamond?
The original 3,106-carat Cullinan diamond was cut and polished into nine major diamonds by Joseph Asscher.
amed the Cullinan diamond after Thomas Cullinan, the owner of the Premier Mine, it was — and still remains — the largest gem diamond ever found. In its uncut state, it weighed 3,106 carats and measured roughly 4 inches by 2.5 inches by 2.3 inches (10.1 by 6.35 by 5.9 centimeters). For comparison, the blue-hued Hope Diamond weighs a little over 45 carats.
The rough stone was gifted to King Edward VII in 1907 (more on that transaction in a minute) and cut into nine major diamonds named Cullinan I through IX, ranked from largest to smallest.
The Cullinan I, also known as the "Great Star of Africa," is the largest colorless cut diamond in the world. It weighs more than 530 carats and is mounted on the Sovereign's Scepter, part of the British royal family's priceless crown jewels. The Cullinan II, no slouch at 105.6 carats, is the second-largest cut diamond in the world and is the sparkling centerpiece of the family's Imperial State Crown.
The Cullinan diamonds are not only some of the world's largest cut diamonds, but they're also some of the most beautiful, possessing all of the most-prized characteristics of gem diamonds, says Evan Smith, a senior research scientist at the Gemological Institute of America (GIA), the organization that grades diamonds according to the "four Cs": cut, clarity, color and carat weight.
"The Cullinan diamonds are the ultimate color, they're very large and their clarity is very good," Smith says. "They're the quintessential top tier in terms of what makes an attractive diamond — something that's completely colorless and nearly transparent inside."
The Queen, the British Empire and the Cullinan Diamond
The Cullinan III and IV brooch worn by Queen Elizabeth (left) and Queen Mary (far right) consists of a pear-shaped drop of 92 carats (Cullinan III) and a cushion-shaped stone of 62 carats (Cullinan IV). These diamonds were mounted into this brooch for Queen Mary in 1911. The brooch was inherited by Queen Elizabeth II in 1953,
When Queen Elizabeth II was laid to rest in 2022, Cullinans I and II were on prominent display. Both the scepter and the crown (and a third bejeweled object called the Sovereign's Orb) were placed on the Queen's casket during the funeral procession, which was broadcast live around the world.
While heads of state paid their respects to Elizabeth for her dignity, strength and poise during her historic, nearly 71-year reign, others criticized the Queen for never formally apologizing for atrocities committed during Britain's colonial era, which included colonial rule over part or all of South Africa from 1795 to 1961. The discovery and sale of the record-setting Cullinan diamond is wrapped up in that colonial history.
he Premier Mine, where the Cullinan was discovered, was located in an area formerly known as the Transvaal. In the early 19th century, Dutch settlers called Boers fled the British-controlled Cape Colony and trekked to the hot, dry interior of South Africa near modern-day Pretoria. There, the Boers defeated local tribes and founded the Transvaal Republic.
The Rocks That Built South Africa
The Cullinan III and IV brooch (center) and Cullinan VII Delhi Durbar Necklace and Cullinan Pendant were on display as part of the "Diamonds: A Jubilee Celebration" exhibition at Buckingham Palace in 2012. SAMIR HUSSEIN/WIREIMAGE
In 1867, a 15-year-old boy named Erasmus Jacobs, son of a poor Boer farmer, found a shiny rock on his otherwise desolate land. When neighbors convinced him to send the rock to British authorities in the Cape Colony, tests confirmed that the brownish-yellow stone was in fact a 21.25 carat diamond now known as the Eureka Diamond.
"This diamond," wrote the British Colonial Secretary at the time, "is the rock upon which the future success of South Africa will be built."
The discovery of diamonds in the Transvaal drew a flood of prospectors to the region. Fifteen years later, they also discovered gold there. The British, who had signed treaties recognizing Boer independence in the 1850s, turned around and annexed the Transvaal and other Boer territories. After two bloody conflicts known as the Anglo-Boer Wars, the British prevailed and claimed the Transvaal as part of the Crown's colonial holdings in South Africa.
Thomas Cullinan, a British citizen born in South Africa, bought the land for the Premier Mine in 1902, the year the Boers ceded the Transvaal to the British. When the remarkable Cullinan diamond was discovered there in 1905, the government of British-controlled Transvaal bought it from Cullinan in 1907 for £150,000 British pounds (the equivalent of £20 million pounds today or $22 million) and presented it as a birthday gift to King Edward VII, who reluctantly accepted it "as a token of the loyalty and attachment of the people of Transvaal."
The Cullinan III and IV brooch (center) and Cullinan VII Delhi Durbar Necklace and Cullinan Pendant were on display as part of the "Diamonds: A Jubilee Celebration" exhibition at Buckingham Palace in 2012.
In 1867, a 15-year-old boy named Erasmus Jacobs, son of a Boer farmer, found a shiny rock on his otherwise desolate land. When neighbors convinced him to send the rock to British authorities in the Cape Colony, tests confirmed that the brownish-yellow stone was in fact a 21.25 carat diamond now known as the Eureka Diamond.
"This diamond," wrote the British Colonial Secretary at the time, "is the rock upon which the future success of South Africa will be built."
The discovery of diamonds in the Transvaal drew a flood of prospectors to the region. Fifteen years later, they also discovered gold there. The British, who had signed treaties recognizing Boer independence in the 1850s, turned around and annexed the Transvaal and other Boer territories. After two bloody conflicts known as the Anglo-Boer Wars, the British prevailed and claimed the Transvaal as part of the Crown's colonial holdings in South Africa.
Thomas Cullinan, a British citizen born in South Africa, bought the land for the Premier Mine in 1902, the year the Boers ceded the Transvaal to the British. When the remarkable Cullinan diamond was discovered there in 1905, the government of British-controlled Transvaal bought it from Cullinan in 1907 for £150,000 British pounds (the equivalent of £20 million pounds today or $22 million) and presented it as a birthday gift to King Edward VII, who reluctantly accepted it "as a token of the loyalty and attachment of the people of Transvaal."
QDiamonds Like the Cullinan Are Geological Marvels
Queen Elizabeth II talks to guests as she hosts a garden party at Buckingham Palace in 2010. She's wearing the Cullinan V brooch, which includes a heart-shaped stone weighing 18 carats. The brooch was originally worn by Queen Mary as part of the suite of jewelry made for the Delhi Durbar in 1911
This crown was made in 1937 for Queen Elizabeth, consort of King George VI. The front cross holds the Koh-i-Noor Diamond, which had been mounted in the crowns of Queen Alexandra and Queen Mary.
GIA's Smith made headlines in 2016 when he and his colleagues published groundbreaking findings in the journal Science showing that very large and strikingly clear diamonds like the Cullinan are formed hundreds of miles deeper inside Earth than 99 percent of the world's gem diamonds.
"Diamonds are already an incredibly unique geological material," Smith says. "Yet even within the realm of diamonds, diamonds like the Cullinan are a special category that form in a slightly different way and have their own really unique properties."
Almost all the standard diamonds that adorn engagement rings and earrings are formed around 90 to 125 miles (150 to 200 kilometers) below the surface in the lithosphere, which corresponds to the base layers of the thickest sections of continental plates. At GIA, Smith was able to examine much rarer and more expensive diamonds called CLIPPIR diamonds, an acronym for the qualities of these prized gems: Cullinan-like, large, inclusion-poor, pure, irregular and resorbed.
Inclusions are tiny specks of minerals trapped inside diamonds that affect their clarity. CLIPPIR diamonds like the Cullinan have almost no inclusions, but by examining the few impurities he could find in hundreds of large diamonds, Smith concluded that CLIPPIRs formed at depths closer to 410 miles (660 kilometers) where liquid metal churns inside Earth's mantle.
"Super-deep" diamonds like the Cullinan are thrust to the surface and mixed with shallower diamonds during a particularly deep and explosive type of volcanic eruption known as a "Kimberlite" eruption. Kimberlite magma, named after the South African city Kimberley, contains more water and CO2 than regular magma.
"It's almost like shaking a Champagne bottle and releasing all of that pressure," Smith says. "That's the kind of energy we're talking about."
All of the biggest and clearest diamonds in the world have been recovered from Kimberlite deposits, many of them in South Africa, but also in Brazil and India, the source of the fabled
Koh-i-Noor diamond. The 105-carat Koh-i-Noor, which means "Mountain of Light" in Persian, was from India by the British in the 19th century and also became part of the crown jewels.
To transport the priceless uncut Cullinan diamond from South Africa to Europe, the British government dispatched a conspicuous military vessel with a regiment of uniformed guards. In fact, the military ship was a decoy, and the world's largest diamond was actually shipped in a biscuit tin through regular post
Hope you enjoyed the Awesome Stuff
Up NextAre There Diamonds in the Ocean?FeaturedSpecial Offer on Antivirus Software From HowStuffWorks and TotalAV SecurityFeaturedTry Our Crossword Puzzles!FeaturedCan You Solve This Riddle?Environmental ScienceThis One's More Than Two Months' Salary: World's Largest Diamond Up for AuctionAll About You!The Engagement Ring Quiz: Do You Know Your Diamonds?The WorldEveryday Science: Diamond Quiz
You May LikeThe True Story of Blood DiamondsEnvironmental ScienceWhat Are the 'Four Cs' That People Talk About When Buying a Diamond?The WorldHow Much Do You Know About These Precious Gems and Metals?Environmental ScienceHow Diamonds WorkCar ModelsRolls-Royce Finally Enters the SUV MarketStyleThe Hope Diamond Probably Isn't Cursed, After AllThe WorldName These Gemstones From One Image in 7 Minutes
-
he Imperial State Crown and Sovereign's Scepter rest atop the coffin of Britain's Queen Elizabeth II. The Scepter includes Cullinan I, also known as the "Great Star of Africa," the largest colorless cut diamond in the world. It weighs more than 530 carats. The Cullinan II, weighing 105.6 carats, is the second-largest cut diamond in the world and is the centerpiece of the Imperial State Crown.
In 1905, the Premier Mine near Pretoria, South Africa, was only 2 years old, but it was already one of the most productive diamond mines in the world. One morning the mine's superintendent, Frederick Wells, was conducting a routine inspection 18 feet (5.5 meters) below the surface when a glint of sparkling rock caught his attention on the wall above. Using a penknife, he pried out a large, misshapen hunk of what he assumed to be worthless rock crystal.
After all, a rock that big — more than a pound in weight and roughly the dimensions of a human heart — couldn't possibly be a diamond. But he was wrong. It was indeed a diamond.
What Is the Cullinan Diamond?
The original 3,106-carat Cullinan diamond was cut and polished into nine major diamonds by Joseph Asscher.
amed the Cullinan diamond after Thomas Cullinan, the owner of the Premier Mine, it was — and still remains — the largest gem diamond ever found. In its uncut state, it weighed 3,106 carats and measured roughly 4 inches by 2.5 inches by 2.3 inches (10.1 by 6.35 by 5.9 centimeters). For comparison, the blue-hued Hope Diamond weighs a little over 45 carats.
The rough stone was gifted to King Edward VII in 1907 (more on that transaction in a minute) and cut into nine major diamonds named Cullinan I through IX, ranked from largest to smallest.
The Cullinan I, also known as the "Great Star of Africa," is the largest colorless cut diamond in the world. It weighs more than 530 carats and is mounted on the Sovereign's Scepter, part of the British royal family's priceless crown jewels. The Cullinan II, no slouch at 105.6 carats, is the second-largest cut diamond in the world and is the sparkling centerpiece of the family's Imperial State Crown.
The Cullinan diamonds are not only some of the world's largest cut diamonds, but they're also some of the most beautiful, possessing all of the most-prized characteristics of gem diamonds, says Evan Smith, a senior research scientist at the Gemological Institute of America (GIA), the organization that grades diamonds according to the "four Cs": cut, clarity, color and carat weight.
"The Cullinan diamonds are the ultimate color, they're very large and their clarity is very good," Smith says. "They're the quintessential top tier in terms of what makes an attractive diamond — something that's completely colorless and nearly transparent inside."
The Queen, the British Empire and the Cullinan Diamond
The Cullinan III and IV brooch worn by Queen Elizabeth (left) and Queen Mary (far right) consists of a pear-shaped drop of 92 carats (Cullinan III) and a cushion-shaped stone of 62 carats (Cullinan IV). These diamonds were mounted into this brooch for Queen Mary in 1911. The brooch was inherited by Queen Elizabeth II in 1953,
When Queen Elizabeth II was laid to rest in 2022, Cullinans I and II were on prominent display. Both the scepter and the crown (and a third bejeweled object called the Sovereign's Orb) were placed on the Queen's casket during the funeral procession, which was broadcast live around the world.
While heads of state paid their respects to Elizabeth for her dignity, strength and poise during her historic, nearly 71-year reign, others criticized the Queen for never formally apologizing for atrocities committed during Britain's colonial era, which included colonial rule over part or all of South Africa from 1795 to 1961. The discovery and sale of the record-setting Cullinan diamond is wrapped up in that colonial history.
he Premier Mine, where the Cullinan was discovered, was located in an area formerly known as the Transvaal. In the early 19th century, Dutch settlers called Boers fled the British-controlled Cape Colony and trekked to the hot, dry interior of South Africa near modern-day Pretoria. There, the Boers defeated local tribes and founded the Transvaal Republic.
The Rocks That Built South Africa
In 1867, a 15-year-old boy named Erasmus Jacobs, son of a poor Boer farmer, found a shiny rock on his otherwise desolate land. When neighbors convinced him to send the rock to British authorities in the Cape Colony, tests confirmed that the brownish-yellow stone was in fact a 21.25 carat diamond now known as the Eureka Diamond.
"This diamond," wrote the British Colonial Secretary at the time, "is the rock upon which the future success of South Africa will be built."
The discovery of diamonds in the Transvaal drew a flood of prospectors to the region. Fifteen years later, they also discovered gold there. The British, who had signed treaties recognizing Boer independence in the 1850s, turned around and annexed the Transvaal and other Boer territories. After two bloody conflicts known as the Anglo-Boer Wars, the British prevailed and claimed the Transvaal as part of the Crown's colonial holdings in South Africa.
Thomas Cullinan, a British citizen born in South Africa, bought the land for the Premier Mine in 1902, the year the Boers ceded the Transvaal to the British. When the remarkable Cullinan diamond was discovered there in 1905, the government of British-controlled Transvaal bought it from Cullinan in 1907 for £150,000 British pounds (the equivalent of £20 million pounds today or $22 million) and presented it as a birthday gift to King Edward VII, who reluctantly accepted it "as a token of the loyalty and attachment of the people of Transvaal."
The Cullinan III and IV brooch (center) and Cullinan VII Delhi Durbar Necklace and Cullinan Pendant were on display as part of the "Diamonds: A Jubilee Celebration" exhibition at Buckingham Palace in 2012.
In 1867, a 15-year-old boy named Erasmus Jacobs, son of a Boer farmer, found a shiny rock on his otherwise desolate land. When neighbors convinced him to send the rock to British authorities in the Cape Colony, tests confirmed that the brownish-yellow stone was in fact a 21.25 carat diamond now known as the Eureka Diamond.
"This diamond," wrote the British Colonial Secretary at the time, "is the rock upon which the future success of South Africa will be built."
The discovery of diamonds in the Transvaal drew a flood of prospectors to the region. Fifteen years later, they also discovered gold there. The British, who had signed treaties recognizing Boer independence in the 1850s, turned around and annexed the Transvaal and other Boer territories. After two bloody conflicts known as the Anglo-Boer Wars, the British prevailed and claimed the Transvaal as part of the Crown's colonial holdings in South Africa.
Thomas Cullinan, a British citizen born in South Africa, bought the land for the Premier Mine in 1902, the year the Boers ceded the Transvaal to the British. When the remarkable Cullinan diamond was discovered there in 1905, the government of British-controlled Transvaal bought it from Cullinan in 1907 for £150,000 British pounds (the equivalent of £20 million pounds today or $22 million) and presented it as a birthday gift to King Edward VII, who reluctantly accepted it "as a token of the loyalty and attachment of the people of Transvaal."
QDiamonds Like the Cullinan Are Geological Marvels
Queen Elizabeth II talks to guests as she hosts a garden party at Buckingham Palace in 2010. She's wearing the Cullinan V brooch, which includes a heart-shaped stone weighing 18 carats. The brooch was originally worn by Queen Mary as part of the suite of jewelry made for the Delhi Durbar in 1911
GIA's Smith made headlines in 2016 when he and his colleagues published groundbreaking findings in the journal Science showing that very large and strikingly clear diamonds like the Cullinan are formed hundreds of miles deeper inside Earth than 99 percent of the world's gem diamonds.
"Diamonds are already an incredibly unique geological material," Smith says. "Yet even within the realm of diamonds, diamonds like the Cullinan are a special category that form in a slightly different way and have their own really unique properties."
Almost all the standard diamonds that adorn engagement rings and earrings are formed around 90 to 125 miles (150 to 200 kilometers) below the surface in the lithosphere, which corresponds to the base layers of the thickest sections of continental plates. At GIA, Smith was able to examine much rarer and more expensive diamonds called CLIPPIR diamonds, an acronym for the qualities of these prized gems: Cullinan-like, large, inclusion-poor, pure, irregular and resorbed.
Inclusions are tiny specks of minerals trapped inside diamonds that affect their clarity. CLIPPIR diamonds like the Cullinan have almost no inclusions, but by examining the few impurities he could find in hundreds of large diamonds, Smith concluded that CLIPPIRs formed at depths closer to 410 miles (660 kilometers) where liquid metal churns inside Earth's mantle.
"Super-deep" diamonds like the Cullinan are thrust to the surface and mixed with shallower diamonds during a particularly deep and explosive type of volcanic eruption known as a "Kimberlite" eruption. Kimberlite magma, named after the South African city Kimberley, contains more water and CO2 than regular magma.
"It's almost like shaking a Champagne bottle and releasing all of that pressure," Smith says. "That's the kind of energy we're talking about."
All of the biggest and clearest diamonds in the world have been recovered from Kimberlite deposits, many of them in South Africa, but also in Brazil and India, the source of the fabled
Koh-i-Noor diamond. The 105-carat Koh-i-Noor, which means "Mountain of Light" in Persian, was from India by the British in the 19th century and also became part of the crown jewels.
To transport the priceless uncut Cullinan diamond from South Africa to Europe, the British government dispatched a conspicuous military vessel with a regiment of uniformed guards. In fact, the military ship was a decoy, and the world's largest diamond was actually shipped in a biscuit tin through regular post
Hope you enjoyed the Awesome Stuff
Up NextAre There Diamonds in the Ocean?FeaturedSpecial Offer on Antivirus Software From HowStuffWorks and TotalAV SecurityFeaturedTry Our Crossword Puzzles!FeaturedCan You Solve This Riddle?Environmental ScienceThis One's More Than Two Months' Salary: World's Largest Diamond Up for AuctionAll About You!The Engagement Ring Quiz: Do You Know Your Diamonds?The WorldEveryday Science: Diamond Quiz
You May LikeThe True Story of Blood DiamondsEnvironmental ScienceWhat Are the 'Four Cs' That People Talk About When Buying a Diamond?The WorldHow Much Do You Know About These Precious Gems and Metals?Environmental ScienceHow Diamonds WorkCar ModelsRolls-Royce Finally Enters the SUV MarketStyleThe Hope Diamond Probably Isn't Cursed, After AllThe WorldName These Gemstones From One Image in 7 Minutes -
-
-
-
If only mankind could safely bring that asteroid to earth that is comprised of mostly precious metals......... $50,000,000,000,000,000. est. worth.
I know everything except tonight's winning LOTTO numbers
-
Appreciate your interest, gregs, in recovering cosmic precious metals.
There was a light play on that concept in the 'Diamonds Are Forever' Bond Movie
Small Asteroid to make extremely close approach to Earth Thursday
ABC NEWS: Scientists say this will be one of the closest approaches ever recorded.
Bye, The bye, Congratulations on your high prediction rate in Wisconsin
Best Wishes for more and the lottery in 2023
Pro-Player Advocate
Eddessa_Knight with LIGHT
-
Don’t/won't lose a diamond whilechasing glitter.
Diamonds are not
forever they can be evaporated byultraviolet light
-
-
WOULD YOU CHOSE A SPAKLER IN YOUR HANDS OR CHANCE A QUICK PIC LOTTRERY TICKET
Diamonds have two defining characteristics – outstanding beauty and hard-to-beat hardness.
But that doesn’t mean that diamonds are invincible. There are, in fact, several ways you can destroy a diamond. But is shining a UV light at a diamond one of them? Can ultraviolet light destroy a diamond?
That’s the question we’re trying to answer today. The answer to this one is quite interesting.
Technically speaking, yes, UV light can destroy a diamond. But what exactly happens when you expose a diamond to UV light? Should you hide your diamond ring from the sunlight because of this?
In this article, we’ve covered everything you need to know about diamonds vs. UV light. Let the games begin!
Diamond’s Description
Diamond’s characteristic crystal structure and composition make it a unique representative of the mineral kingdom.
Diamonds are the only precious stones that are made of a single element. It’s usually 99.95% carbon; the other 0,05% may include one or more trace elements.
Now, these elements are atoms that aren’t part of diamond’s essential chemistry. Some of these elements could even impact a diamond’s color, shape, and other properties.
The way diamonds form helps determine their identity: They’re formed under extremely high pressure and temperatures that exist only within a specific depth range beneath the Earth’s crust.
Diamond’s structure is isometric, meaning that the carbon atoms are bonded in essentially the same way in all directions.
You could argue that graphite also contains only carbon – but its crystal structure and formation process are very different. The result is that graphite is the much softer material – you can write with it, after all – while diamonds are so hard that only other diamonds can scratch them.
Without any of these characteristics, diamonds would be just another mineral.
But luckily enough, this combination of the formation process, crystal structure, and chemical composition gave diamonds the qualities that make them so exceptional.
Diamonds are graded by their cut, clarity, color, and carat – the most important characteristics of a diamond. However, diamonds can exhibit some additional characteristics, like fluorescence.
Understanding Diamonds Fluorescence
Q
