Happy Birthday, Dad!!

For your birthday, I'm giving you the largest diamond in the world. It's called the Cullinan Diamond, named after the owner of the mine in South Africa where it was found. A supervisor of the mine was walking around and saw it and picked it up. It weighed 1.3 pounds, or 3,106 carats. There was an imperfection in the middle of the diamond that threatened to shatter the whole thing if it was not properly handled, so the decision was made to cut it into "smaller" stones.

This first stone, the largest of nine cut from the original diamond, is called Cullinan I, the Star of Africa and is in the old Royal Scepter for Africa.



The next largest, Cullinan II, is set in the British Imperial Crown of State. As a side note, the stone above it is a brilliant ruby called the Black Prince Ruby. The Black Prince was the eldest son of Edward III of England, and was acquired in the late 1300's during the Invasion of France. The Black Prince had taken hostage an important Frenchman who gave him the stone as ransom for his release. The Black Prince did not survive the Invasion, due to illness, of all things, so the crown went to Richard II, and thus the seeds were sown for the Wars of the Roses.



Cullinan III and Cullian IV (top to bottom) are set as a necklace and are part of the British Crown Jewels. South Africa was a British colony at the time, so all the good stuff made it back to England. Queen Elizabeth II will wear this on occasion.



She will also wear a brooch from Cullinan VI and Cullinan VIII.




WARNING:

1. Diamonds will shatter if struck with a hammer. Diamonds are 58 times stronger than the next heaviest mineral, but are brittle.

2. If a diamond is put into an oven and heated to 763 degrees Celsius (1405 degrees Fahrenheit), it will simply vanish, without even ash remaining. Only a little carbon dioxide will have been released.


Happy birthday!!