On Mon, 10 Aug 2009 08:52:14 -0700, in rec.crafts.jewelry Ganesh
wrote:


On Aug 8, 10:23*pm, Peter W. Rowe
wrote:
However, South African mines also produced a number of famous very large
diamonds, including record holders. *Consider the Cullinan diamond, the star of
Africa, and others. *Those record holders in the British Crown Jewels, *most of
them at any rate, are South African. * But of course, the South African diamond
mines don't have the millenia old history and lore of the Indian sources.

But Koh-i-noor on records still is still the biggest finished diamond.
As per http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A730801 the stone originally
weighed 793 carats.

Quite possibly, although the actual weight at the time, before being butchered
in recutting in europe, is a bit uncertain, simply because records, and indeed
the exact definition of the carat, may be hazy.

However, Currently, it's not the biggest, or the finest, diamond around. And
for sheer size, the Cullinan, originally weighing in at over 3100 carats (one
and a third POUNDS) is still the largest rough diamond ever found, or at least,
the largest one we have records of. It's also one of the finer quality stones
ever found too.

Peter