What is the Biggest Diamond in the World?

When thinking about the most expensive earth diamonds or lab grown diamonds one would assume that the diamonds have a spectacular color and displays almost no imperfections. For the worlds biggest diamond, the Cullinan Diamond, that is not the case.

Cullinan Diamond History

The Cullinan Diamond was discovered over 116 years ago at the Premier No.2 mine in Cullinan, South Africa. At first weighing the raw diamond weighed 3,106.75 carats (621.35 g) and was near colorless. It was put up for sale and despite considerable public interest the diamond remained unsold. In 1907 the government of Transvaal colony purchased the Cullinan Diamond and presented it to Edward the 6th who was the King of the United Kingdom.

The Cullinan Diamond produced a multitude of different types of stones which have various cuts and sizes.

Cullinan I

Cullinan I or the Great Star of Africa ,it is the largest clear cut diamond in the world at 530.4 carats (106.08 g). The stone is mounted in the head of the Sovereign's Sceptre with Cross

Cyril Davenport (1848 – 1941), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Cullinan II

Cullinan II or the Second Star of Africa, weighing 317.4 carats (63.48 g), mounted into the Imperial State Crown.

Cyril Davenport (1848 – 1941), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The Queen's Diamonds

Seven other major diamonds, weighing a total of 208.29 carats (41.66 g), are privately owned by Elizabeth II

How Big is 3,106 Carats? 

To put into perspective just how giant the Cullinan Diamond was we need to first see what a typical retail diamond carat size is. At Ritani we have diamonds ranging from .15 Carats all the way to 25.03 Carats. The Cullinan Diamond was almost 120X the size of the largest retail diamond on the market!

The second-largest diamond in the world was found in 2019 at the Karowe Mine in Botswana weighing in at 1758 Carats! The Karowe Mine is also the home of the 3rd and 4th largest diamonds in the world coming in at 1109 and 998 Carats respectively. You can learn more about the most expensive diamonds ever sold at auction on our blog.