The Jubilee: 245.33 carats
The Jubilee is a magnificent, colorless cushion-cut diamond that at one time ranked the sixth largest diamond in the world. More importantly, many gemologists consider the Jubilee the most perfectly cut of all large diamonds. That is because its facets are so exact that the gem can be balanced on the culet point, which measures less than 2 millimeters across.
The original rough stone weighed 650.80 carats and was an irregular octahedron in shape, lacking definite faces. It was found in late 1895 at the Jagersfontein Mine in South Africa, and acquired by a syndicate of London diamond merchants who sent it to Amsterdam for polishing. The first cleaving of the rough yielded a fine pear-shaped diamond in excess of 13 carats that was presented by the king of Portugal to his wife. The remaining large piece was polished into the stone known as the Jubilee.
During the cutting period, when the stone's exceptional size and purity became evident, there were initial plans to present the diamond to Queen Victoria upon completion, but this did not occur. However, the following year, 1897, marked the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria. Therefore, the gem was appropriately renamed the Jubilee to commemorate the occasion. Its introduction was also significant in the world of diamonds, which saw its first diamond with the characteristics of both the rose and brilliant cuts - which would subsequently be known as the Jubilee cut.
In 1900 the syndicate displayed the Jubilee at the Paris Exhibition, where it was an immensely popular attraction. Shortly thereafter, it was purchased by an Indian industrialist and philanthropist, Sir Dorabji Jamsetji Tata, whose family was instrumental in modern India's economic development. Tata's heirs sent the Jubilee to Cartier for sale. Cartier exhibited it with other historic diamonds prior to selling it to a Paris industrialist and arts patron, M. Paul-Louis Weiller, who remains its present owner.
The original rough stone weighed 650.80 carats and was an irregular octahedron in shape, lacking definite faces. It was found in late 1895 at the Jagersfontein Mine in South Africa, and acquired by a syndicate of London diamond merchants who sent it to Amsterdam for polishing. The first cleaving of the rough yielded a fine pear-shaped diamond in excess of 13 carats that was presented by the king of Portugal to his wife. The remaining large piece was polished into the stone known as the Jubilee.
During the cutting period, when the stone's exceptional size and purity became evident, there were initial plans to present the diamond to Queen Victoria upon completion, but this did not occur. However, the following year, 1897, marked the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria. Therefore, the gem was appropriately renamed the Jubilee to commemorate the occasion. Its introduction was also significant in the world of diamonds, which saw its first diamond with the characteristics of both the rose and brilliant cuts - which would subsequently be known as the Jubilee cut.
In 1900 the syndicate displayed the Jubilee at the Paris Exhibition, where it was an immensely popular attraction. Shortly thereafter, it was purchased by an Indian industrialist and philanthropist, Sir Dorabji Jamsetji Tata, whose family was instrumental in modern India's economic development. Tata's heirs sent the Jubilee to Cartier for sale. Cartier exhibited it with other historic diamonds prior to selling it to a Paris industrialist and arts patron, M. Paul-Louis Weiller, who remains its present owner.
