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The Golden Jubilee Diamond, a 545.67 carat (109.13 g) brown diamond, is the largest cut and faceted
diamond Diamond is a Allotropes of carbon, solid form of the element carbon with its atoms arranged in a crystal structure called diamond cubic. Another solid form of carbon known as graphite is the Chemical stability, chemically stable form of car ...
in the world. It outweighs the
Cullinan I The Cullinan Diamond is the largest gem-quality rough diamond ever found,Scarratt and Shor, p. 120. weighing (1 lb 5.92 oz), discovered at the Premier No.2 mine in Cullinan, South Africa, on 26 January 1905. It was named after Thomas Cull ...
by 15.37 carats (3.07 g). The Golden Jubilee Diamond was discovered in 1985 at the
Premier Mine The Premier Mine is an underground diamond mine owned by Petra Diamonds in the town of Cullinan, east of Pretoria, Gauteng Province, South Africa. Established in 1902, it was renamed the Cullinan Diamond Mine in November 2003 in celebrati ...
, which is also the origin of the Cullinan diamond (1905) and other notables such as the Taylor–Burton (1966) and the Centenary (1986). Cullinan I, also known as the Great Star of Africa, had held the title of the largest cut and faceted diamond since 1908.


History

First known as the "Unnamed Brown", the Golden Jubilee Diamond was cut from a large brown diamond of 755.5 carats (151 g), found in the prolific blue ground of the Premier Mine in
South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
in 1985. Until 1990, the diamond remained largely unknown to the outside world, requiring two years' work to bring it to its current state. A large surface and deep cracks from the interior, as well as several inclusions, meant that cutting and polishing the large diamond presented challenges. De Beers considered this as an opportunity to test new cutting technologies. The same technology used in cutting the future Golden Jubilee diamond was later used in the cutting of the
Centenary Diamond The De Beers Centenary Diamond is, at , the third-largest diamond to have been produced in the Premier Mine. Among top-color diamonds, only the Cullinan I and II are larger than the Centenary diamond. The Centenary Diamond is rated in color ...
, a smaller (273.85 carats) flawless and colorless rough diamond. Gabriel Tolkowsky was hired by
De Beers De Beers Group is an international corporation that specializes in diamond mining, diamond exploitation, diamond retail, diamond trading and industrial diamond manufacturing sectors. The company is active in open-pit, large-scale alluvial and c ...
to cut the diamond and also so he could test special tools and cutting methods that were being developed for use on the colourless D-colour Centenary. Because of its cracks and inclusions, it was decided by De Beers and Gabriel Tolkowsky to construct an underground room that was free from vibration before work could begin on the diamond. In 1990, after two years of work, the stone was finished, reduced in total from 755.50 carats, to 545.65 carats. Gabi Tolkowsky described the cut as a "Fire-Rose cushion shape". The unnamed diamond was brought to Thailand by the Thai Diamond Manufacturers Association to be exhibited in the Thai Board of Investment Exhibition in Laem Chabang and was selected to herald De Beer's centennial celebrations in 1988. The Golden Jubilee was purchased from De Beers by a group of Thai business people led by
Henry Ho "Henry" Ho Wai Kun (, born January 12, 1982) is a racing driver from Macau. Career Ho won the Macau Touring Car Championship in 2005, 2008 and 2009.http://www.fiawtcc.com/Drivers_Details.asp?idDriver=61 Profile at fiawtcc.com He also won the ST ...
in 1995. It was arranged for the diamond to be given to King Bhumibol as a gift from the people to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the King's ascent to the throne. The diamond was named the Golden Jubilee, and was received by the King's daughter, Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn, on his behalf in 2000. The diamond is now on display in the Royal Museum at Pimammek Golden Temple Throne Hall in Bangkok as part of the crown jewels.


Blessings

The diamond was brought to
Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...
in the Vatican to receive a papal blessing. It was also blessed by the Buddhist
Supreme Patriarch of Thailand __NOTOC__ The Supreme Patriarch of Thailand or Sangharaja ( th, สังฆราช; ) is the head of the order of Buddhist monks in Thailand. His full title is ''Somdet Phra Saṅgharāja Sakalamahāsaṅghapariṇāyaka'' ( th, สมเด ...
. The diamond ( th, เพชรกาญจนาภิเษก) was named by
King Bhumibol Adulyadej Bhumibol Adulyadej ( th, ภูมิพลอดุลยเดช; ; ; (Sanskrit: ''bhūmi·bala atulya·teja'' - "might of the land, unparalleled brilliance"); 5 December 192713 October 2016), conferred with the title King Bhumibol the Great ...
and given to him in honour of his 50th
coronation A coronation is the act of placement or bestowal of a coronation crown, crown upon a monarch's head. The term also generally refers not only to the physical crowning but to the whole ceremony wherein the act of crowning occurs, along with the ...
anniversary. It was initially planned to mount the Golden Jubilee in the royal sceptre. A subsequent plan was to mount it in a
royal seal A seal is a device for making an impression in wax, clay, paper, or some other medium, including an embossment on paper, and is also the impression thus made. The original purpose was to authenticate a document, or to prevent interference with ...
.


Exhibitions

The Golden Jubilee Diamond has been exhibited at Henry Ho's 59-story
Jewelry Trade Center The Jewelry Trade Center is a 59-story mixed-use skyscraper located in the Silom Road gemstone district of Bangkok, Thailand. Designed by Hellmuth, Obata and Kassabaum, the building was completed in 1996. At Skyscraperpage.comJewelry Trade Cent ...
in
Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estima ...
, the
Central Department Store Central Department Store ( th, สรรพสินค้าเซ็นทรัล; zh, 尚泰; Pinyin: Shàngtài) is a Thai department store chain, owned by Central Group. It has branches in Thailand and Indonesia, and is also a Royal Wa ...
in Lat Phrao (Bangkok), and internationally in
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(Switzerland), Borsheims in
Omaha Omaha ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Douglas County. Omaha is in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's 39th-largest city ...
, Nebraska, USA (owned by
Warren Buffett Warren Edward Buffett ( ; born August 30, 1930) is an American business magnate, investor, and philanthropist. He is currently the chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway. He is one of the most successful investors in the world and has a net w ...
's
Berkshire Hathaway Inc. Berkshire Hathaway Inc. () is an American multinational conglomerate holding company headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, United States. Its main business and source of capital is insurance, from which it invests the float (the retained premiums ...
), and Gleims Jewelers in
Palo Alto Palo Alto (; Spanish for "tall stick") is a charter city in the northwestern corner of Santa Clara County, California, United States, in the San Francisco Bay Area, named after a coastal redwood tree known as El Palo Alto. The city was estab ...
, California. USA. It is now located in the Grand Palace as part of the
royal regalia Regalia is a Latin plurale tantum word that has different definitions. In one rare definition, it refers to the exclusive privileges of a sovereign. The word originally referred to the elaborate formal dress and dress accessories of a sovereig ...
.


Value

The value of the Golden Jubilee diamond is believed to range between $4 and $12 million USD. If sold at auction, it is likely that this stone would fetch a significantly higher price, such additional value gained from affiliation with prominent individuals (Thailand royalty).


See also

*
List of diamonds Diamond (gemstone), Diamonds become famous typically for some combination of their size, color and quality. Diamonds occur naturally in many different colors, so the largest diamond of a particular color may not be large in absolute terms, but it ...


References

{{Reflist
Golden Jubilee A golden jubilee marks a 50th anniversary. It variously is applied to people, events, and nations. Bangladesh In Bangladesh, golden jubilee refers the 50th anniversary year of the separation from Pakistan and is called in Bengali ''"সু ...
Diamonds originating in South Africa 1985 in South Africa