Diamonds were first discovered somewhere between 4 and 6 B.C. but have been under the Earth’s surface for billions of years. It is only in the mid 1800 that diamonds started being professionally mined after a series of interesting discovery in the country of South Africa. These discoveries led to the establishment of the De Beers Company which went on to become one of the largest diamond companies in the world. Let’s have a look at some of the interesting incidents leading to the diamond discovery of some of the well-known diamonds.
Star of South Africa
The Star of South Africa is a name given to one of the largest diamonds that come from its soil. It has an interesting story behind it. It was first discovered by a local African farmer who wasn’t quite aware of the rush to collect precious gems at that time. According to legend, he sold it to another farmer called Niekerk for 500 sheep, 1 horse and 10 oxen. Niekerk had a similar stone and had some idea about the preciousness of such gems. He later sold this 83. 5 carat diamond for a large sum of fifty thousand dollars. This diamond was subsequently processed and cut into a pear shape weighing 47.69 carat. Diamonds like these can be used to make three stone engagement ring.
Niarchos Diamond
There is some ambiguity regarding the discovery of the Niarchos Diamond since it was discovered by chance. In the 1970’s, the Premier Mine began its fourth life after the after recovering from the depressed state of the diamond industry and yielded some of the greatest diamonds known to us. The Niarchos diamond was discovered on the morning of May 22nd 1954, when a huge diamond appeared unexpectedly on the grease tables of the recovery plant. It measured 51x25x19 mm and the officials regarded it as an exceptional find. It was later processed to be cut into a pear shaped diamond.
Eureka
Eureka is a yellow hued diamond that was first discovered by an unassuming 15 year old boy named Erasmus Jacobs while he was playing on his father’s farm. He found it in the year of 1867 on the southern bank of the Orange River in Kimberly and handed it to his neighbour Niekerk who sold it for 1500 GBP.
Jones diamond
One of the most famous diamonds discovery in United States is the Jones Diamond that was discovered by a 12 year old boy while playing horseshoe in Peterstown. However, unaware of the value of the find, this diamond was stashed inside a cigar box that was kept in the family’s backyard for nearly 10 years until a geologist found it and told them that it was a diamond. It was sold for around 75000 dollars.
11th Century Black Diamond
The discovery of the 11th century black diamond is a fairly recent discovery. They were discovered in 2008, a time when lab grown diamonds UK had already been introduced into the market. A treasure hunter John Stevens came across a black diamond necklace from the 11th century when he was looking for treasures using a metal detector. He first mistook it to be an old bottle cap but later realized that these were coloured diamonds worth a lot.
