Cullinan V

The fifth stone cut from the Cullinan rough diamond is a heart shaped diamond weighing 18.8 carats. It was given to Queen Mary by the government of South Africa in 1910. She had it set in a platinum and diamond brooch, but also gave it a dual purpose.

The diamond was detachable from the brooch and could be placed as the centre diamond in the Delhi Durbar Emerald and Diamond Stomacher, made in 1911.

The brooch is now personally owned by HM Queen Elizabeth II and does not belong to the Crown Jewels.

This photograph shows Queen Mary wearing the Delhi Durbar Parure (the set including the necklace, earrings and stomacher) including the Cullinan V.

Look closely at the picture and you will see the Cullinan IV in the centre of the Queen's coronet.

The Cullinan III and IV - aka The Cullinan Brooch

The third and fourth stones cut from the Cullinan diamond were fondly known as ‘Granny’s Chips’. Granny was Queen Mary, queen consort to George V and the grandmother of HM Queen Elizabeth II. She had the Cullinan III and IV set into the finial and band of her crown temporarily, for her husband's coronation on June 22, 1911.

Queen Mary's coronation Crown

These two stones could be removed from the crown and worn in unison as a brooch with the 63.6 carat, cushion cut Cullinan IV on the top and the 94.4 carat, pear shape Cullinan III on the bottom. Queen Mary wore this brooch quite often and usually to important functions, including the marriage of her granddaughter Princess Elizabeth in 1947. This brooch is now part of the personal jewellery collection of HM Queen Elizabeth and is not part of the Crown Jewels. Due to the weight of the stones when worn in the brooch style, it is not worn very often.

The current value of this pair of diamonds is £ 50,000,000 or $100,000,000.

Cullinan II - The Lesser Star of Africa

The Cullinan II, also known as The Lesser Star of Africa, was the second largest stone cut from the Cullinan Rough diamond. It weighs 317 carats and is cushion cut.








It is currently mounted in the Imperial State Crown of Great Britain along with 2,867 other diamonds, 273 pearls, 17 sapphires, 11 emeralds and 5 rubies. The Cullinan II holds one of the places of honour, located in the front of the crown, at the centre just above the ermine band.

Cullinan I - The Star of Africa

The largest diamond cut from the Cullinan rough was the Cullinan I, also known as The Star of Africa. It is a pear shaped diamond weighing 530.2 carats with 74 facets. It was known as the largest cut diamond in the world until the 1985 discovery of the Golden Jubilee Diamond (545 carats), also from the Premier Mine in South Africa.

The Cullinan I is mounted in the Sovreign's Sceptre and housed in the Tower of London with the other Crown Jewels. It is the largest colourless cut diamond with no inclusions (flawless) in the world today.

It measures approximately 2" long, 1.7" wide is similar in size to a hen's egg.

It is valued today at £200 million or $400 million.

Famous Gem Stones

The greatest diamond find of the 20th century had to be the Cullinan diamond.

It was discovered at the Premier Mine in Transvaal, South Africa on January 25, 1905 by the surface manager, 'Daddy' Wells. This find was happenstance as he saw a glint in the yellow ground of the side wall of the mine and went to remove it with his pen knife.

The rough diamond weighed 3,106 carats and measured approximately 4" long and 3" high with a total weight of just over 1.33 lbs.

The Cullinan diamond was named after Sir Thomas Cullinan, who was the chairman of the mining company. He had sent the diamond to Johannesburg with the rest of the week's production, and it remained on the London market for nearly 2 years because nobody wanted to buy it.

The Transvaal government bought the rough diamond at the suggestion of General Louis Botha, the Prime Minister, and presented it to King Edward VII on his 66th birthday on November 9, 1907.

The King decided to entrust the diamond cutting to Joseph Asscher and Company of Amsterdam, who had previously cut the Excelsior. Joseph transported the diamond rough in his pocket over the English Channel on a steamboat, while the reporters were being told that the diamond was being sent via post.

The division of the Cullinan stone yielded 9 major stones and 96 small brilliant stones yielding 1,063 carats - recovering 34.25% of the original weight.

Asscher retained the numbered stones III - V and VII to XI along with the 96 smaller diamonds as a fee for cutting and polishing the Cullinan. All of these diamonds were purchased by the South African government and given to Queen Mary in 1910.