The Jubilee Diamond, originally known as the Reitz Diamond is a colourless, cushion-shaped

diamond Diamond is a 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 chemically stable form of carbon at room temperature and pressure, ...

weighing 245.35 carats (49.07

gram The gram (originally gramme; SI unit symbol g) is a unit of mass in the International System of Units (SI) equal to one one thousandth of a kilogram. Originally defined as of 1795 as "the absolute weight of a volume of pure water equal to ...

s), making it the sixth largest

in the world. It was originally named after

Francis William Reitz Francis William Reitz, Jr. (Swellendam, 5 October 1844 – Cape Town, 27 March 1934) was a South African lawyer, politician, statesman, publicist, and poet who was a member of parliament of the Cape Colony, Chief Justice and fifth State Presi ...

, the then president of the

Orange Free State The Orange Free State ( nl, Oranje Vrijstaat; af, Oranje-Vrystaat;) was an independent Boer sovereign republic under British suzerainty in Southern Africa during the second half of the 19th century, which ceased to exist after it was defeat ...

where the stone was discovered, before being renamed to honour the 60th anniversary of the coronation of

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previ ...

in 1897. The original stone, a rough octahedron weighing 650.80 carats (130.16 g), was discovered in 1895 at the Jagersfontein 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 count ...

. A consortium of diamond merchants from

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

purchased it along with its even larger sister, the Excelsior, in 1896, and sent it to Amsterdam where it was polished by M.B. Barends. A 40 carat (8 g) chunk was removed, which itself yielded a 13.34 carat (2.668 g) pear-shaped gem eventually purchased by

Carlos I of Portugal ''Dom'' Carlos I (; English: King Charles of Portugal; 28 September 1863 – 1 February 1908), known as the Diplomat ( pt, o Diplomata), the Martyr ( pt, o Martirizado), and the Oceanographer ( pt, o Oceanógrafo), among many other names, was ...

Dorabji Tata Sir Dorabji Tata (27 August 1859 – 3 June 1932) was an Indian businessman of the British Raj, and a key figure in the history and development of the Tata Group. He was knighted in 1910 for his contributions to industry in British India. ...

acquired the Jubilee Diamond around 1900 and gave it to his wife Meherbai who used to wear it during her visits to the royal courts and public functions. The Jubilee Diamond was the largest in the world until 1905 when a bigger diamond, the Cullinan I also known as the Great Star of Africa which was itself cut from an even larger rough diamond - The Cullinan Diamond, was exhibited. It was sold after his death in 1932, and the money went to the formation of the

Sir Dorabji Tata Trust The Sir Dorabji Tata Trust was established by Sir Dorab Tata (fondly called ''Sir Dorabji''), the elder son of Tata Group founder Jamsetji Tata. Founded in 1932, it is one of the oldest non-sectarian philanthropic organisations in India. Histo ...

.The Sir Dorabji Tata Trust – A Historical Perspective
, Sir Dorabji Tata Trust website

References

"The Jubilee"
''Famous, Historic and Notable Diamonds'' {{Authority control Diamonds originating in South Africa 1895 in South Africa Individual diamonds

See also

Further reading

References