The Red Cross: One of the most unique diamonds every produced, the Red Cross features a prominent Maltese Cross in its top facet. Just like The De Beers stone, it was also mined from the Kimberley mines by De Beers in 1901. It weighed 375 carats in its rough form, which was reduced to 205.07 carats after it was finished. The finished Red Cross is a beautiful canary yellow diamond, cut into a cushion shape. When Christie organized an art sale in London in 1918, the owners donated the diamond for the benefit of the British Red Cross Society and the Order of St. John.

The Millennium Star: A perfectly flawless diamond (internally and externally), the Millennium Star was found in the Democratic Republic of Congo in 1990. Unlike other most famous diamonds, the Millennium Star was found in alluvial deposits and was a huge 777 carats in its rough state. De Beers purchased the stone and polished it as one of the most perfect diamonds ever produced. It was only unveiled by De Beers in 1999 as part of its Millennium Collection. The actual value of the diamond has never been revealed by the company, but it is believed to be several hundred million dollars. The Millennium Star is a perfect pear shaped stone weighing 203.04 carats.

The Koh-I-Noor: Best translated to mean “Mountain of Light”, this mystery shrouded diamond is from the Indian sub-continent. Over its history, it has been owned by the Mughals, the Sikhs, the Afghans and many other rulers as spoils of war. It is perhaps the best known and most fought over diamond ever. It is a flawless and colorless 105 carats diamond that is now part of the Crown Jewels of England.

There are of course dozens of other diamonds that would easily fit into this list, but these particular twelve stones mentioned here are some of the biggest, most desirable diamonds ever known to mankind.

5. The Spirit of de Grisogono: Amongst the rarest of rare diamonds, the Spirit of de Grisogono is the the black beauty found in west Central Africa. Originally weighing 587 carats in its rough form, the world’s largest black diamond was cut and polished down to 312.24 carats in the Mogul cut style. Though an exceptional and rare diamond, the Spirit of de Grisogono has managed to disappear from public eye and its current location and ownership are unknown.

6. The Centenary Diamond: A diamond carrying an insurance policy of $100 million, and with its present location and ownership a secret, the Centenary is one of the most revered diamonds the world has ever known. Mined at 599 carats from the Premier Mine in 1986, it was cut and polished to a finished 273.85 carats. It is a splendid D color diamond. The most unique feature of the Centenary is its 247 facets, the highest number for any known diamond polished up to that time.

Hard Fact: There are many large stones that have been exceptional and that have unfortunately disappeared from the public domain. In most cases, this has happened on account of theft.

7. The Jubilee: Named in commemoration of the 75^th anniversary of the coronation of Queen Victoria of England, the Jubilee is an E colored diamond with outstanding clarity. Mined at 650.80 carat from the Jagersfontein Mine in South Africa in 1895 this magnificent stone was cut into cushion shape yielding a polished diamond of 245.35 carats. Its present valuation is unknown.

Interesting Trivia: The diamond industry employs more than 10 million people worldwide and boasts of roughly $100 billion in annual revenue. If we put together the 50 biggest diamonds in the world their value would easily exceed the current annual revenue amount.

8. The De Beers: Another diamond mined back in 1888 by De Beers from its Kimberley mines, the De Beers was named after the company. Believed to have been cut and polished in Amsterdam, it was put on display in Paris. His Highness Bhupinder Singh, the Maharaja of Patiala acquired it and commissioned Cartier to set it into an exclusive ceremonial necklace in 1928. With 2930 diamonds, the stunning necklace was aptly dubbed the Patiala Necklace. The necklace and the diamond have both gone missing since then.

There are four more outstanding stones that I absolutely cannot leave out of my list of the most famous stones. I will share my complete list of the twelve most famous stones on my next blog.

Interesting Trivia: Diamonds are valued based on their carat, clarity, cut and color. Even among these, color and clarity demand great value – so a colorless and flawless diamond in lesser carats would fetch much higher value than a larger stone of say lower color and clarity.

These magnificent stones have been the objects of wonder, of desire, of jealousy and of course, something to be possessed with a passion.

1. Cullinan I or the Great Star of Africa: It was cut from the Cullinan diamond, which is widely believed to be the largest gemstone diamond ever to be found (it dipped the scales at 3,106 carats when found in Transvaal, South Africa in 1905). It carries the name of the mine owner Sir Thomas Cullinan and was gifted to the then monarch of England King Edward VII in 1907. Asscher of Amsterdam was commissioned to cut and polish this huge stone. The rough stone yielded nine large and ninety six smaller polished diamonds. Among these, the Cullinan I or Great Star of Africa (530 carats) is the largest colorless and flawless diamond presently known. It forms a part of the British Crown Jewels.

2. The Golden Jubilee: A yellowish brown colored beauty discovered in South Africa in 1985, the Golden Jubilee is officially the largest cut diamond in the world at 545.67 carats. It was blessed by Pope John Paul II. Though the largest known cut and polished diamond, it fails to match the Cullinan I diamond in value on account of it’s yellow-brown coloring. It has still found a place of pride in the collection of the Thai Royal Family.

3. The Incomparable: This truly incomparable diamond was presented to the world in 1980 by the Democratic Republic of Congo. An awe-inspiring 890 carats in its rough state, this diamond took nearly four years to reach its final cut size of 407.48 carats. It is the most unique cut of all the largest diamonds in the world – a triangular shape. Just like the Golden Jubilee, the Incomparable is also a yellowish brown colored diamond that is internally flawless.

4. The Cullinan II or Lesser Star of Africa:The smaller sibling of the Cullinan I, this 317.40 carat diamond was cut from the same massive stone that yielded the Great Star of Africa. Polished into a cushion shape, the Cullinan II followed the Cullinan I into the Crown Jewels and forms the center piece of Britain’s Imperial Crown.

This list of most famous stones will be continued on my next blog.

Stay tuned.