Origin of name
The Jubilee diamond gets its name from Queen Victoria
(1837 -1901), Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, who
celebrated the diamond jubilee of her coronation in 1897. The original rough
diamond weighed 650.80 carats and was named the "Reitz Diamond" after
the then President of the Orange Free State, Francis William Reitz. However
after the rough diamond was processed, it yielded a 245 carat cushion-shaped
brilliant of exceptional clarity and purity, and was re-named the Jubilee
Diamond, to commemorate the occasion of the diamond jubilee of Queen
Victoria's Coronation.
Characteristics of the
diamond
The Jubilee diamond is a 245.35-carat, rectangular
cushion-shaped brilliant, with a color grading of E-color, slightly less
than the D-color of absolutely colorless diamonds, and a clarity grade of
VVS-2 (very, very, slightly included-2).
The Jubilee Diamond is the 4th largest colorless diamond
and the 6th largest faceted diamond in the world. See table below.
D, E, and F color grades are considered to be
colorless in the G. I. A. color grading scale, and as such these diamonds
may be Type II a diamonds, which are nitrogen free and have perfectly formed
crystals, but constitute only about 1-2 % of all naturally occurring
diamonds. Type II a diamonds are chemically pure and structurally perfect.
Thus two main factors that can cause color in diamonds, impurities and
structural imperfections are absent in these diamonds, and therefore they
are colorless.
List of famous colorless (white)
diamonds greater than 100 carats in weight
|
S/N |
Name |
Carat Weight |
Shape/Cut |
|
1 |
Cullinan I |
530.20 |
pear |
|
2 |
CullinanII |
317.40 |
cushion |
|
3 |
Centenary |
273.85 |
modified heart |
|
4 |
Jubilee |
245.35 |
cushion |
|
5 |
Millennium Star |
203.04 |
pear |
|
6 |
La Luna |
200.07 |
heart |
|
7 |
Orlov |
189.62 |
rose |
|
8 |
Jacob-Victoria |
184.50 |
oval |
|
9 |
Regent |
140.64 |
cushion |
|
10 |
Paragon |
137.82 |
7-sided |
|
11 |
Premier Rose |
137.02 |
pear |
|
12 |
Queen of Holland |
135.92 |
cushion |
|
13 |
Zale Light of Peace |
130.27 |
Pear |
|
14 |
Niarchos |
128.25 |
Pear |
|
15 |
Portuguese |
127.02 |
asscher |
|
16 |
Jonker |
125.35 |
emerald |
|
17 |
Al-Nader |
115.83 |
pear |
|
18 |
Taj-i-Mah |
115.06 |
moghul |
|
19 |
Edna Star |
115.00 |
emerald |
|
20 |
Koh-i-Nur |
108.93 |
oval |
|
21 |
Mouawad Magic |
108.81 |
emerald |
|
22 |
Cartier |
107.07 |
pear |
|
23 |
Star of Egypt |
105.51 |
emerald |
|
24 |
Mouawad Splendor |
101.84 |
pear |
|
25 |
Star of America |
100.57 |
asscher |
|
26 |
Star of Happiness |
100.36 |
radiant |
|
27 |
Star of the Season |
100.10 |
pear |
History
The Jubilee diamond was discovered in the Jagersfontein mine
in South Africa, in the year 1895, just two years after the discovery of the Excelsior
diamond in the same mine in 1893. The original rough stone was an irregular
octahedron, without definite faces, weighing 650.80 carats, and was named
the Reitz diamond, after the then President of the Orange Free State, F. W.
Reitz. The Reitz diamond was placed eighth in the ranking of the largest
rough diamonds ever discovered in the world. A consortium of three London
based companies consisting of Messrs. Wernher Beit & Co, Barnato Bros. and
Mosenthal Sons & Co., acquired the Reitz diamond together with the Excelsior
diamond, from the New Jagersfontein Mining and Exploration Company.
In 1896, the consortium sent the diamond to Amsterdam,
for cutting and polishing. The job was entrusted to Messrs. M. B. Barends
under the supervision of Messrs. Metz. At first the diamond was cleaved into
two - a smaller piece of about 40 carats and a larger piece of about 600
carats.
The faceting and polishing of the smaller piece yielded a
fine, clean, pear-shaped diamond of 13.34 carats. This diamond was purchased
by Don Carlos I, of Portugal, as a present for his wife. However the present
whereabouts of this diamond are not known.
The large piece was faceted and polished to yield the
245.35-carat, rectangular, cushion shaped brilliant, of exceptional clarity
and purity, and became the 6th largest faceted diamond in the world. As the
diamond was in it's final stages of production, there was an initiative by
interested parties to purchase the diamond from the consortium of merchants,
and present it to Queen Victoria, who was due to celebrate the diamond
jubilee (60th Anniversary) of her Coronation in 1897. But this never materialized, and the
diamond remained with it's owners. However the consortium of merchants
decided that the diamond be re-named as the Jubilee diamond to commemorate
the occasion of the diamond jubilee of Queen Victoria's Coronation.
Interestingly, the diamond industry also marked the
occasion of the diamond jubilee of the coronation, by introducing a new
diamond cut to the trade, known a the "Jubilee Cut", which was a combination
of the brilliant and traditional rose cuts. However this new cut did not
become popular in the trade, and became extinct a few years after it was
introduced.
Having accomplished the difficult task of transforming
the rough to a remarkable diamond of exceptional quality, the consortium put
the diamond on display at the Paris Exhibition in the year 2000, with a view
of finding a suitable buyer for the valuable diamond. The diamond drew a lot
of attention during the period of the exhibition. The estimated value of the
diamond at the time was 7,000,000 francs.
The consortium's primary aim of displaying the diamond
was achieved, immediately after this event, when the Jubilee diamond was
purchased by one of the richest men in India, Sir Dorabji Jamsetji Tata, the
pioneer industrialist and philanthropist, who laid the foundation for
India's steel and iron industry. Subsequently, his industrial ventures
together with the cotton mills and hydroelectric power plants created by his
father Jamsetjji Nasarwani Tata, became the basis of modern India's
industrial and economic development. The Tata Iron and Steel Company
incorporated in 1907, became the nucleus of a group of companies, producing
not only steel, textiles and electric power, but also chemicals,
agricultural equipment, trucks, locomotives, and cement. The family's
industrial facilities were concentrated in the new city of Jamshedpur, in
Bihar State.
After Sir Dorabji Jamsetji Tata's death in 1932, his
heirs decided to dispose of the Jubilee diamond, and accordingly in 1935 the
diamond was sent to Cartier's for sale. The Cartier's Jewelry firm, who were
acting as advisers to one of their most distinguished customers on matters
pertaining to jewelry and precious stones, the Gaekwar of Baroda, the ruler
of the Maratha Princely State of Baroda, immediately sent word to the
Prince, on the availability of an exceptional quality diamond, known as the
Jubilee diamond. The selling price of the diamond was put at £ 75,000. The
Gaekwar expressed interest in purchasing the diamond, and obtained
authorization from the treasury department in Baroda, but at the last moment
opted out of the sale. Eventually, Cartier's were able to sell the Jubilee
diamond in 1937, to a well known industrialist from Paris, Monsieur Paul
Louis Weiller, who was also a patron of the arts. The diamonds previous
setting was changed into a brooch, with a number of diamond baguettes,
resembling a six-pointed star. During his period of ownership Monsieur
Weiller, readily loaned the Jubilee for several international diamond
exhibitions, such as the one held at the Smithsonian Institution in
Washington D. C. in 1960 and in Geneva in December of the same year. In
1966, the Jubilee diamond returned to it's country of origin for a brief
period, when it was displayed at the De Beers Diamond Pavilion in
Johannesburg, South Africa.
Present owner of the
diamond
The Jubilee diamond has since been purchased by Robert
Mouawad, the head of the international jewelry empire, Mouawad Jewelers, the
renowned collector and connoisseur of diamonds. It is the largest
diamond in his rare and magnificent collection. See table below. Robert
Mouawad is reported to have commented on the Jubilee diamond as follows :-
"If we refer to the human contribution brought to a diamond, my favorite
would be the Jubilee for it's outstanding cut for the period."
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Robert Mouawad's collection of
diamonds
|
S/N |
Name |
carat weight |
color |
Shape/Cut |
|
1 |
Jubilee |
245.35 |
E-color |
cushion |
|
2 |
Premier rose |
137.02 |
D-color |
pear |
|
3 |
Queen of Holland |
135.92 |
D-color |
cushion |
|
4 |
Mouawad Magic |
108.81 |
D-color |
emerald |
|
5 |
Unnamed |
106.00 |
|
modified pear |
|
6 |
Mouawad Monolith |
104.02 |
|
emerald |
|
7 |
Mouawad Splendor |
101.84 |
D-color |
pear |
|
8 |
Ahmedabad |
78.86 |
D-color |
pear |
|
9 |
Excelsior I |
69.68 |
D-color |
pear |
|
10 |
Taylor-Burton |
68.07 |
D-color |
pear |
|
11 |
Mouawad Mondera |
60.19 |
D-color |
pear |
|
12 |
Star of Abdul Aziz |
59.00 |
D-color |
pear |
|
13 |
Mouawad White |
48.28 |
D-color |
marquise |
|
14 |
Indore Pears I |
46.95 |
D-color |
pear |
|
15 |
Indore Pears II |
46.70 |
D-color |
pear |
|
16 |
President Vargas |
44.17 |
|
emerald |
|
17 |
Mouawad Blue |
42.92 |
fancy blue |
pear |
|
18 |
Mouawad Lilac |
24.44 |
fancy pink |
emerald |
|
19 |
Mouawad Pink |
21.06 |
fancy pink |
radiant |
