Top 5 Biggest And Most Expensive Diamonds In

#5 The Cullinan

Found in 1905 in South Africa…literally just sitting idly around on the rock face of a mine 9 meters underground and excavated with a pocket knife. Its size was 3106 carats, and when divided up, it created 9 major diamonds, 96 smaller ones and additional pieces totalling 9.5 carats. What happened to it? Well it was given to the Royal Family as a birthday present and has remained with them in their crown jewels since. Why this name? Well, It was named after the individual, Sir Thomas Cullinan who actually owned the mined. Another interesting fact about it, it is thought the superintendent who found it, actually broke off a chunk for himself which was almost just as big as the one he handed in. Never proven but theorised that the diamond was actually a lot larger than what was reported!

#4 The Excelsior

Found in 1893 in South Africa, again by pretty much dumb luck, instead of a thorough, calculated, engineered mining process. It was found while a worker was loading a truck by shovelling gravel. It weighed 995 carats. The diamond sat around in a vault for a while, as they usually do and eventually was diced up into smaller pieces, hence not taking its place among the famous larger gemstones. It was cut into 11 smaller stones and from there, essentially was tragically removed from history as a famous and magnificent stone.

#3 Millennium Star

Found in the DRC (Democratic Republic of Congo) in 1990 and iots rough size was a whopping 777 carats. The older diamonds went through a manual cutting process that was painstaking but this one, due to technology advances was cut with modern laser technology, taking over 3 years to produce the final result. There was an attempted theft of this diamond in the year 2000 through smash and grab tactics while it was on display in London, however the robbery failed. It currently sits with De Beers in their monumental collection.

#2 The Star of Sierra Leone

Found in 1972, in, yes you guessed it, Sierra Leone. It came in at a massive 968 carats. It ranks as the largest alluvial diamond ever discovered, meaning that it was in top soil of the ground! It is the second diamond that makes the top 10 ever found in a common area for diamond miners being the Woyie River. After being cut, it eventually got made into 30 gemstones after an original flaw was uncovered.

#1 The Hope Diamond

This diamond is actually blue! We thought to include it in this list, as though it is only 45 carats, it has a mysterious history. Firstly, no one where It was found and there is no solid detail as to who originally owned it and where it came from or what year it was when it was found, and also its original size. It has gone through approx. 20 plus owners that range from kings, explorers, diamond merchants and museums. Over it course a curse of misfortune has started fuelled by stories all with the Hope diamond. Out of the individuals that have worm it, owned it, borrowed it…22 of them have perished ion unusual circumstances. I guess there is only one way to find out!? Anybody want to help write a cheque to the Smithsonian?