Origin of Name
The Golden Jubilee diamond gets its name from the King
of Thailand, King Bhumibol Adulyadej, who was presented the diamond,
previously known as the "Unnamed Brown", by the people of Thailand, to mark
the happy occasion of the 50th Anniversary of his Coronation in 1997.
Thailand is one of the few countries in the world where the constitutional
monarchy is still held in great esteem.
Characteristics of the
diamond
The Golden Jubilee diamond is a fancy yellow-brown
diamond, of unknown clarity grade, and having a unique cut, which the cutter
of the diamond Gabi Tolkowsky referred to as a "fire rose cushion-cut.
The weight of the diamond is 545.67 carats, making it the largest faceted
diamond in the world, a rare distinction which was previously held by the
530.20-carat Cullinan I diamond aka the greater "Star of Africa" diamond.
The extra-ordinary size of the diamond, confers on it another rare
distinction, as the largest faceted brown diamond in the world. Thus the
Golden Jubilee diamond holds the twin distinction of being the largest
faceted diamond and the largest faceted brown diamond in the world. See
table below.
List of famous brown
diamonds
|
S/N |
Name |
Carat Weight |
Shape/Cut |
color |
|
1 |
Golden Jubilee |
545.67 |
cushion |
fancy yellow brown |
|
2 |
Star of the South |
128.48 |
cushion |
fancy light pinkish brown |
|
3 |
Earth Star |
111.59 |
pear |
brown |
|
4 |
Cross of Asia |
109.26 |
radiant |
light brown |
|
5 |
Great Chrysanthemum |
104.16 |
pear |
fancy brown |
|
6 |
Ashberg diamond |
102.48 |
cushion |
amber |
|
7 |
Golden Maharajah |
65.57 |
pear |
fancy dark orange brown |
|
8 |
Kimberley |
55.09 |
emerald |
light brown |
The fancy yellow brown color grade given to this diamond
seems to indicate the contribution made by yellow to the overall color of
the diamond. This must be in the region of 25 % to 50 %. If it was less than
25 %, the color grade for the diamond would become yellowish-brown, instead
of yellow-brown.
As the color intensity of yellow increases, the diamond
may fall into the rare Type Ib category, in which the intense yellow color
is caused by single nitrogen atoms scattered in the crystal. Nitrogen atoms
absorb visible light in the blue region of the spectrum, causing it's
complementary color yellow to appear. The brown color of course is caused by
the plastic deformation of the crystal, during it's formation deep inside
the earth's crust and subsequent rise to the earth's surface, a process that
must have taken millions or perhaps billions of years. Thus the Golden
Jubilee diamond is in all probability a Type Ib diamond.
History
The Golden Jubilee diamond was discovered in the year
1985, in the De Beers Premier diamond mines of Transvaal, South Africa,
which was also the source of some very famous diamonds, such as the Cullinan,
Niarchos, Taylor Burton, Centenary etc. In the rough state the diamond
weighed 755 carats, which was the 7th largest gem-quality rough diamond ever
discovered in the world. But, after the discovery of the Millennium Star
rough diamond in 1990, which weighed 777 carats, the Golden Jubilee rough
diamond was pushed down to the 8th place. See table below.
List of largest
gem-quality rough diamonds discovered in the world
|
Name |
Country of discovery |
Year of discovery |
Carat Weight |
Position |
|
Cullinan |
South Africa |
1905 |
3,106 |
1 |
|
Excelsior |
South Africa |
1893 |
995 |
2 |
|
Star of Sierra Leone |
Sierra Leone |
1972 |
969.80 |
3 |
|
Incomparable |
Zaire |
1984 |
890 |
4 |
|
Great Mogul |
India |
1650 |
787 |
5 |
|
Millennium Star |
Zaire |
1990 |
777 |
6 |
|
Woyie River |
Sierra Leone |
1945 |
770 |
7 |
|
Golden Jubilee |
South Africa |
1985 |
755 |
8 |
|
President Vargas |
Brazil |
1938 |
726.60 |
9 |
|
Jonker |
South Africa |
1934 |
726 |
10 |
|
Jubilee-Reitz |
South Africa |
1895 |
650.80 |
11 |
|
Unnamed |
South Africa |
1984 |
620.14 |
12 |
|
Sefadu |
Sierra Leone |
1970 |
620 |
13 |
|
Kimberley Octahedral |
South Africa |
|
616 |
14 |
|
Lesotho Promise |
Lesotho |
2006 |
603 |
15 |
|
Centenary |
South Africa |
1986 |
599 |
16 |
|
De Grisogono |
Central Africa |
|
587 |
17 |
|
Jacob-Victoria |
South Africa |
1884 |
457.50 |
18 |
|
Zale Light of peace |
Sierra Leone |
1969 |
435 |
19 |
|
De Beers |
South Africa |
1888 |
428.50 |
20 |
|
Niarchos |
South Africa |
1954 |
426.50 |
21 |
A comparison of the world's 1st and 2nd largest faceted
diamonds the Golden Jubilee and the Cullinan I can be informative and
interesting.
1. Both diamonds, the Golden Jubilee and the Cullinan I,
have a common origin, having been discovered from the same diamond mine, the
Premier diamond mines, in Transvaal, South Africa.
2. The Cullinan was discovered in 1905, but the Golden
Jubilee was discovered 80 years later, in 1985.
3. The Cullinan is a D-color, absolutely colorless
diamond, but the Golden Jubilee is a fancy yellow brown diamond.
4.The Cullinan I is cut as a pear-shaped diamond, whereas
the Golden Jubilee has been cut as a cushion-shaped diamond.
5. The Cullinan was purchased by the Transvaal
Government, and presented to the reigning British Monarch King Edward VII,
on the occasion of his 66th birthday, which fell on 9th November, 1907.
However, the Golden Jubilee, was purchased by the people of Thailand,
and presented to the King of Thailand, King Bhumibol Adulyadej, to mark the 50th anniversary of the Kings
Coronation.
6. The Cullinan I is part of the British Crown Jewels,
mounted on the head of the royal scepter of King Edward VII. Whereas, the
Golden Jubilee, is part of the Thai Crown jewels, initially planned to be
mounted on the royal scepter or the royal seal, but as yet unmounted.
It is said that the Golden Jubilee diamond, previously
known as the unnamed brown, was used by the owners of the diamond De Beers,
to test a series of modern tools and equipment developed by the company, for
the processing of large diamonds. The person in charge of the cutting was
none other than the world renowned diamond cutter, Gabi Tolkowsky, hailing
from a family of diamond cutters, with five new diamond cuts to his credit.
Under the expert guidance of Gabi Tolkowsky, the tested equipment not only
came out with flying colors, passing all the stringent conditions of the
test, but the rough diamond also metamorphosed into a beautiful,
545.67-carat, yellow brown, cushion-cut brilliant, surpassing the hitherto
largest faceted diamond in the world, the Cullinan I, by 15.47 carats.
The stage was now set for the De Beers Company to give
the green light, to the team of cutters headed by Gabi Tolkowsky, to go
ahead with the more challenging task of cutting the 599-carat, D-color (top
color), Centenary rough diamond, discovered at the Premier mines on July
17th 1986, but unveiled to the world only on March 11th 1988, at a banquet
held to celebrate the centenary of the De Beers Consolidated Mines
Ltd. Using the same modern equipment, Gabi Tolkowsky's team successfully
transformed this rough diamond, into the 273.85-carat, modified
heart-shaped, D-color diamond, both internally and externally flawless. The
"Centenary Diamond" is said to be the largest, faceted, D-color, flawless
diamond in the world.
The faceted unnamed brown diamond was later taken to
Thailand, on loan from De Beers, by the Thai Diamond Manufacturers
Association, who exhibited the diamond at a Thai Board of Investment
Exhibition. It is said that, the unnamed brown diamond was the star
attraction at this exhibition, viewed by large crowds throughout the
duration of the exhibition, and at one point caused the build up of a one
mile long queue of people, eagerly waiting for their turn to view the
extremely rare exhibit.
Subsequently, a group of gem and jewelry dealers of
Thailand led by Henry Ho, purchased the diamond from De Beers in the year 1995,
with the primary aim of presenting it to his Royal Highness, King Bhumibol
Adulyadej, whose 50th coronation anniversary was to fall in the year 1997.
The diamond was blessed by Pope John Paul II and later by the Supreme
Buddhist Patriarch and the Supreme Muslim Imam of Thailand, before it was
finally presented to the King, who christened it the Golden Jubilee diamond.
The diamond is now part of the Crown Jewels of Thailand.
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