Tipping the scales at a whopping 312.24 karats, it is the world’s largest cut black diamond and the fifth largest diamond overall. One black diamond of particular note is the Spirit of de Grosogono. In recent years, black diamonds have increased in popularity. The name may sound like an oxymoron but black diamonds have their own distinctive luster and shimmering scintillation, albeit one different from its traditionally brilliant and clear counterparts. This gemstone also has flecks of vivid colors dotting and contrasting the black stone. (For more on the awesome rarity and jaw-dropping cost of black opal, check out our post on the Top 10 Rarest Gemstones.)īlack opal ranges from grey to black in color with the real ebony shades being the most desired. While white opal is pretty common, stunning black opal is incredibly rare. Here are 6 different kinds of black precious stones to keep an eye out for the next time you go shopping for the latest addition to your jewelry collection. This unexpected trend has taken the market by storm: black stones have shown up in collections from the likes of Van Cleef & Arpels and Stephen Webster. Combining his holdings, Rhodes formed De Beers Consolidated Mines Ltd., a company that would grow to become a worldwide diamond monopoly.Everybody loves a good dash of color, but there is a beautiful, mysterious allure to a black gemstone. By 1888, he had also bought out all of the Kimberley diamond mines. Rhodes, with the help of the Rothschilds, soon owned all of the De Beers’ claims. Miners sold out to businessmen like Rhodes because, as they dug deeper, the ground became harder, and this harder ground made mining too risky and costly for individual miners. By the age of eighteen, he had enough funds to start buying mining claims. When farming failed, he traveled to the diamond fields of Kimberley where he made a living by pumping water from the diggings. Rhodes embarked for South Africa to try his hand at cotton farming. Cecil Rhodes’ diamond empireĪnother boy - an enterprising seventeen-year-old Englishman named Cecil Rhodes - launched what many consider as the modern diamond industry. South Africa’s Premier Diamond Mine was an open-pit mine that opened in 1902 and operated for several decades. This stone, named the Star of South Africa, made its way to England where it was cut into a 47.69 ct pear-shaped stone and purchased by the Earl of Dudley. The pebble turned out to be a South African diamond weighing 83.50 cts, and Niekerk sold it for £11,200 (equivalent to US$56,000 at the time), almost 100 times the value of what he gave the shepherd. In exchange for the pebble, Niekerk gave the shepherd a horse, 10 oxen and 500 sheep, nearly all of his earthly goods. Eventually, he made his way to the same man who first noticed Erasmus Jacobs’ shiny rock-Schalk Van Niekerk. He first tried to trade the pebble for a place to sleep and then for breakfast.
This discovery was treated with disbelief by most, and interest was lukewarm until 1869 when a shepherd found an enormous pebble. It is on display at the Kimberley Mine Museum. This enormous South African diamond was named Eureka, meaning “I have found it.”įound by 15-year-old Erasmus Jacobs, the 21.25 ct Eureka diamond was the first significant diamond discovered in South Africa. The stone passed through several hands before an amateur geologist identified it as a diamond weighing 21.25 carats (cts). A neighbor, Schalk Van Niekerk, intrigued by a particularly shiny pebble in the collection, offered to buy it from the boy’s mother, who then gave the pebble to Niekerk for free. The first significant South African diamond was found in 1866 by Erasmus Jacobs, a farmer’s son, who collected ‘pretty stones’ with his friends near the banks of the Orange River. Teenagers, farmers, a shepherd - these were the first to discover diamonds in Northern Cape Province, South Africa, and by doing so, give birth to the modern diamond industry. How South African Diamonds Changed Diamond HistoryĪre South African Diamonds Ethical Diamonds? Learn how Jacobs found the first South African diamond and how Rhodes built up a diamond empire. Two teenagers - Erasmus Jacobs and Cecil Rhodes - helped make this happen. South African diamonds gave birth to the modern diamond industry.
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