User:Lindgren.Denise

The Excelsior Diamond
The Excelsior Diamond was the largest diamond in the world when it was found. It was a rare gemstone, coveted above all others. This immense diamond had been, in its day and age, the focus of great importance to anyone interested in gemstones, because of its rarity. The specifics surrounding its discovery are laced with intrigue. The properties of the rough stone were remarkable. The Excelsior Diamond was fated to have a tragic unfortunate end.

The discovery
The Excelsior Diamond was found June 30,1893 at the Jagersfontein mine in South Africa by a miner named Kaffir (p. 186). He found it while shoveling gravel into a truck. He felt at risk due to the value and prestige of the large stone. He was seemingly frightened of his overseer and was very secretive about his truly monumental find. Kaffir hid it from his overseer, but eventually turned it over to the manager of the mine. He was rewarded with money and a horse and released from his contract (p. 35). The first unfortunate event that occurred involved the ownership. On the day it was discovered, the contract expired between the mining company and the syndicate of London diamond buyers. Unfortunately, this meant the diamond was owned by people that didn't value its potential worth as a single significant stone. If it had been discovered within a brief period of time beforehand the diamond might have taken it place next to other famous diamonds such as The Cullinan or Hope Diamonds.

The rough stone
The rough stone measured 970 carats in weight and was categorized as Color G. The stone was shaped was like a half a loaf of bread; it was unique and inspired the name Excelsior, which means “higher”. It measured two and ½ inches by two inches by one inch thick (p. 35). The Excelsior was a colored a stunning white with a tint of blue. It did contain a number of black carbon inclusions, which is typical of diamonds from the Jagersfontein mine. The crystalline structure resembled a fractured icicle (p. 277). From the time of its discovery on June 30, 1893, it was the largest diamond known to exist, until the discovery of the Cullinan Diamond in 1905.

The cutting of the excelsior
Finally, after the diamond sat in the vault waiting for a buyer for many years, the owners made the tragic decision to cut the stone into several smaller stones. This decision meant that The Excelsior would never be a single large spectacular faceted stone. At the time, the manager of the DeBeers diamond syndicate said the dividing of the stone into many small pieces was "the greatest tragedy of modern times in the history of famous diamonds". Diamond experts hoped that it would be cut to yield a single large diamond, but it was divided into ten smaller stones. By contrast, the owners of The Cullinan Diamond cut that stone in such a way that the largest faceted diamond in the world came from it. The fate of The Excelsior kept it out of the Smithsonion or other historical museums. It was cut without regard to its historical significance, divided into small, easily sold assorted stones. The Aascher Firm, a world-renowned cutter of large diamonds, cut it in London, the name of the cutter was A. Aascher. The pieces were :

These diamonds were parceled out and sold to several different buyers. The Excelsior I, which came up for sale in 1991 and 1996, was purchased by Robert Mouawad for $2,642,000. The remaining stones were used in various grand jewelry pieces such as extravagant tiaras and fabulous bracelets and other fine jewelry creations. The Excelsior Diamond was the great unknown of famous diamonds. It had the potential to be the largest cut diamond ever found. It is considered a travesty that it was divided into so many smaller stone parcels to be sold, instead of being preserved as one large historically important stone. It was a glorious natural wonder when it was discovered, but unfortunately the original owners allowed greed to take hold over the intrinsic value of the Excelsior Diamond.