8 Largest Diamonds in the World

Despite what everyone believes, in general diamonds aren’t that rare or valuable. In fact, diamonds weren’t even that popular until the De Beers company convinced everyone, through a very successful advertising campaign, that engagement rings should always have diamonds. This exponentially boosted  the status of the diamond and the industry hasn’t been the same since.

While regular diamonds might be quite commons, large gemstone quality diamonds have always been rare and valuable. All of the large diamonds are special and some of them are know part of the Crown Jewels of various countries. For this list, we decided to go with the uncut weight of the diamonds to determine the order of the largest diamonds ever discovered.

8. Golden Jubilee Diamond

Source: Wikipedia

The Golden Jubilee Diamond was 755.5 carats (151 g), it was uncovered at De Beers’ Premier Mine in South Africa in 1986.

The Golden Jubilee Diamond is graded as a fancy yellow-brown stone or Champagne Diamond. For many years, the Golden Jubilee Diamond was only known as the “Unnamed Brown Diamond.” The Golden Jubilee Diamond didn’t receive its name until 1998 when it was gifted to the King of Thailand Rama IX (aka Bhumibol Adulyadej) for the 50^th anniversary of his coronation. It is now part of the Crown Jewels of Thailand.

Did You Know?

The Golden Jubilee Diamond was blessed by Pope John Paul II, the Supreme Buddhist Patriarch of Thailand, and the Supreme Muslim High Imam of Thailand before being presented to the King.

7. Millennium Star

Source: Israeli Diamond Industry

The Millennium Star was the crowning piece of De Beers’ Millennium Jewels collection from 2000, the original rough diamond was 777 carats (155.4 g).

De Beers debuted the Millennium Star and the rest of the collection in 2000, to mark the turn of the new millennium. The rest of the Millennium Jewels collection featured 11 rare blue diamonds that had a total weight of 118 carats (23.6 g). De Beers has never actually valued the Millennium Star diamond, but it was reportedly insured for £100,000,000 ($127,453,500), which is believed to be only a fraction of what the diamond is really worth.

Did You Know?

The Millennium Star is the only diamond in the world that is rated flawless both internally and externally.

6. Incomparable Diamond

Source: Hamilton Jewelers

The Incomparable Diamond is the largest brown diamond ever uncovered. The original uncut Incomparable Diamond was 890 carats (178 g), but it was eventually cut down to about 14 stones of various sizes.  It is the third largest cut diamond, just behind the Cullinan I and Cullinan II.

For many years, the cut Incomparable Diamond remained unsold and remained a mystery for many years. However, the Incomparable Diamond resurfaced in 2013 when Lebanese jeweler Mouawad revealed its L’Incomparable necklace. Mouawad’s necklace was valued at $55 million and is now in the Guinness World Records as the world’s most expensive necklace.

Did You Know?

Unlike most of the other large diamonds on this list the Incomparable Diamond was a lucky find that was discovered by a little girl in a pile of rubble, which is where it ended up after it was rejected as worthless by the mine it came from.

5. Lesotho Legend

Source: USA Today via Gem Diamonds

The Lesotho Legend was very recently discovered in early 2018 by Gem Diamonds Ltd. at their mine in Letseng, Lesotho. Weighing in at 910 carats (182 g), the Lesotho Legend is the fifth largest diamond ever found.

Also the quality of the Lesotho Legend is exceptional, it is classified as a D color Type IIa diamond, which means it is the most chemically pure type of diamond. This makes the Lesotho Diamond one of the most valuable diamonds in the world and it was sold for $40 million in March.

Did You Know?

The Lesotho Legend is only one of several high quality and large diamonds discovered in Gem Diamond’s Letseng Mine.

4. Star of Sierra Leone

Source: Wikimedia Commons via The Smithsonian Institution

The Star of Sierra Leone is the largest diamond to ever come out of the Republic of Sierra Leone, which has produced a few other notable diamonds. Overall, the Star of Sierra Leone is the fourth largest gemstone quality diamond, but is considered the largest alluvial diamond ever found.

The Star of Sierra Leone diamond was 969 carats (193.8 g). A few months after being discovered in early 1972, famous New York City jeweler Harry Winston purchased the Star of Sierra Leone for $2.5 million. The Star of Sierra Leone was cut into several smaller diamonds and six of the diamonds were put into a single brooch, which was sold for an undisclosed amount to a private buyer in 1975.

Did You Know?

Originally, Harry Winston had the Star of Sierra Leone cut into one 143 carat (28.6 g) emerald shaped diamond, but after a flaw was discovered the large cut diamond was broken down into smaller stones.

3. Excelsior Diamond

Source: Wikimedia Commons via Edwin W. Streeter

The Excelsior Diamond was discovered on June 30, 1983 at the Jagersfontein Mine in South Africa. For the next few decades, the Excelsior Diamond was the largest diamond ever found until the discovery of the Cullinan Diamond in 1905. It weighed in at 995.2 carats (194.35 g), which was unheard of at the time.

Unlike the other large diamonds on the this list, the history of the Excelsior Diamond is not well documented and is considered a mystery. For many years, the Excelsior Diamond remained safely in a vault when the owner decided to cut it into many smaller stones. None of the cut stones from the Excelsior Diamond are notable in size or name.

Did You Know?

Many people consider the cutting of the Excelsior Diamond to be a tragedy because the cut stones were so small and not memorable.

2. Lesedi La Rona

Source: Wikimedia Commons

The Lesedi La Rona, which was found in 2015 is 1,109 carats (221.8 g) and comes from the Lucara Karowe Mine in Botswana. Lucara Diamond, the owners of the mine, only recently sold the Lesedi La Rona in 2017 for $53 million.

The Lesedi La Rona is now owned by British jeweler Graff Diamonds. In early November 2018, Graff revealed that they had cut the Lesedi La Rona into 60 diamonds that are now being incorporated into pieces of jewelry. Graff Diamonds is still working on the Lesedi La Rona and more finished pieces will be released in the future.

Did You Know?

Graff Diaomnds owns a 373 carat (74.6 g) rough diamond that was originally part of the Lesedi La Rona.

1. Cullinan Diamond

The Cullinan Diamond is the largest diamond ever found in the world. It was found in a mine in South Africa by Sir Thomas Cullinan in 1905.  Before the Cullinan Diamond was cut into polished diamonds, it weighed a whopping 3,106.75 carats (621.35 g)! The rough diamond was split into two stones which were further cut down into nine major stones, 96 brilliants, and 9.5 carats (1.9 g) of unpolished pieces.

The two largest stones, the Cullinan I (Great Star of Africa) and Cullinan II, were given to King Edward II and are now part of the Crown Jewels of the United Kingdom.

Did You Know?

The largest stone cut from the Cullinan Diamond, the Great Star of Africa, has an estimated value of $400,000,000, but it is not for sale because it’s part of the Crown Jewels of the UK.