Today is the centenary of the birth of Harry Oppenheimer, diamond magnate extraordinaire and owner of DeBeers. He inherited South Africa's biggest private fortune from the gold and diamond conglomerate his father established. In 1997 Forbes magazine estimated the Oppenheimer family fortune to be $2.5 billion.
Controversially, given the fact that the business was largely built upon native African labour in a colonial territory, Oppenheimer spoke out against apartheid and on his death in 2000 at the age of 91, tributes were paid to him by the ANC government.
The founding of the DeBeers empire was largely down to a chance discovery. Surprisingly, as late as the 1860s, South Africa was dismissed as having no prospect of producing quality diamonds to compare with those discovered in India. Then in in 1869 the 47.69-carat old style pear-shaped diamond stone we now call the Star of South Africa was discovered.
Apparently it was presented to the South African parliament with the words "This diamond gentleman, is the rock upon which the future prosperity of South Africa will be built". The rest, as they say, is history - the Cape remains to this day one of the world's greatest sources of diamonds, and in 1888 the De Beers company was formed to exploit this fact.
There is something significantly more enticing about a diamond than perhaps any other gem (not that I would turn down the odd emerald or sapphire you understand!).
"Diamonds are forever,
They are all I need to please me,
They can stimulate and tease me..."
And, with Xmas coming up (hint hint), these are some very interesting diamonds indeed:
Currently the largest cut diamond in the world is The Golden Jubilee, with the weight of 545.67 carats, presented to the King of Thailand in 1997 for the 50th anniversary of his reign.
The Cullinan Diamond was discovered in 1905 and at 3,106 carats was the largest gem-quality rough diamond ever found. Cullinan I, or the Great Star of Africa - at 530 carats formerly the largest cut diamond - was one of the 105 gems cut from it. It is now in the Royal Sceptre, but can be worn seperately.
The Koh-i-noor, a 105 carat (21.6 g) diamond that was once the largest known diamond in the world. is part of the British crown jewels. It originated in India and belonged to various Mughal and Persian rulers who fought bitterly over it, but was seized by Britain as a spoil of war in 1849.
The De Beers diamond was found in Kimberly mines in 1888, during the great "diamond rush" in South Africa. Weighing 234.65 carats, the De Beers is the 8th largest faceted diamond in the world, yet its whereabouts are apparently unknown today.
The Hope Diamond is a large (45.52 carat), deep blue diamond. It is legendary for the curse it supposedly puts on whoever possesses it. Previous owners include Kings Louis XV and XVI and Marie Antoinette.
Richard Burton famously purchased for Elizabeth Taylor a 69.42-carats pear shaped gem, later to be called the Taylor-Burton diamond. It was cut from a rough stone weighing 240.80 carats found in the Premier mine in 1966.
The 203 carat Millennium Star is the world's second biggest flawless diamond.
De Beers Group famous diamonds
And to follow that illustrious theme...
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