THE CULLINAN DIAMOND.

Timaru Herald, Volume XIC, Issue 13459, 4 December 1907, Page 3

THE CULLINAN DIAMOND.

The Cullinan diamond, which has just been presented to the King, was found in the Premier mine, in South Africa on January 25, 1905. If we except, the disputed stqna, which is amongiffc the treas-' ure? of the Crown jewels of Portugal, and. which'' inariA- consider to. be a whte topaz ratiher than a diamond, it is the largest diamond in the world, weighing 5025-i carats, or rather more than twenty ounces. The origna.l weight of the Koh-: i-noor was nearly 800 carats, but by nil- ; skilful cutting it was reduced to 279 carats. Tihe Cullinan diamond was discovered by sheer accident early in 1905 in the Premier mine, wnicih is situated in the. Pretoria district. There had been several lucky discoveries of -the- kind in tlri.s- remarkable mine before, but hone aj>proachin'g this in magnitude. One of the over-seers was walking alonjr a new excavation when an object, in the Avail caught his --attention',- and he dug oub the superb stone with his pocket-knife. It measures' 4in : i,n its greatest length, and about) 23.in in width and depth. A few months after the discovery it was sent to London, by registered post, and was on view to- a selected few at the offices of the company in Holborn-viaduet It wag insured for JBsoo.oCO,'but the real values of the gem <a.t the time was put at upwards of £1,000,000: The postal authorities were quite unaware that they had been entrusted, with such a valuable consignment,, and no greater care was bestowed upon it than upon any other packet. After exhibition in . the company's offices it was temporarily housed in a specially constructed safe at the Standard Bank of South Africa, ' The diamond was named after Mr Cullinan, the discoverer of the mine, and one of .the directors, >vho had. floated the mine only a little over two years before, m December, 1902. On the strength of the great discovery the company last October declared a dividend on its deferred shares of 400 per cent. It is estimated that the Cullinan would cost.-. £IO,OCO to cut and make into a brilliant. - - * .