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The 5 Largest Diamonds

Although of a size beyond the dreams of most couples purchasing a wedding ring, the five cut and polished diamonds in this list were originally even larger in their rough, natural state. In fact, two on the list come from the same mammoth diamond discovered in South Africa in 1905. But it is interesting to note that size isn't everything, in that the diamond that ranks highest on the list is dwarfed in value by the runner-up.

The Golden Jubilee
- At 545.67 carats -- one carat being the equivalent of 200 milligrams -- the Golden Jubilee is currently the largest cut diamond in existence. Mined in South Africa in the mid-1980s, in its rough state the stone weighed 755 karats. It was known originally as the Unnamed Brown because of its color, graded as "fancy yellow-brown." The faceting was supervised by jeweler Gabi Tolkowsky, and the rechristened jewel was presented to the King of Thailand upon his 50th birthday in 1997. Estimates of its value run as high as $12 million.
The Cullinan I
- Otherwise known as the "Star of Africa," at 530.20 carats the Cullinan I is the largest colorless diamond in the world. It's called the "Cullinan I" because it was the heaviest of nine large diamonds cut from one gigantic stone of 3,106.75 carats found in 1905 in a South African mine belonging to Sir Thomas Cullinan. Fashioned into an elegant pear cut by Amsterdam jewelers I. J. Asscher and Co., the Cullinan I was purchased for the 66th birthday of King Edward VII of Great Britain, who had it set into the head of the Royal Scepter. It now resides in the Tower of London with the Crown Jewels and has an estimated value of $400 million.
The Incomparable
- Originally a massive but irregularly shaped 890 carats, this smoky yellow stone was found by a little girl in a pile of discarded rubble from a diamond mine in the town of Mbuji Mayi in the Democratic Republic of Congo -- formerly Zaire -- in the 1980s. The rough stone was studied carefully for four years in the hope that it might yield a finished gem larger than the Cullinan I, but in the end the faceted version was somewhat smaller at 407.38 carats.
The Cullinan II
- Hewn from the same massive rough diamond as the Cullinan I, the Cullinan II weighs 317.40 carats. Although both stones share the same colorless brilliance, their cuts are very different -- Cullinan I is pear-shaped, whereas Cullinan II has a squarish "cushion" cut. It is incorporated in the Imperial State Crown of Great Britain and, like the Cullinan I, is on display with the Crown Jewels.
The Spirit of de Grisogono
- Mined in Africa sometime during the 1980s, the Spirit of de Grisogono is, at 312.24 carats, the largest black diamond known to exist, while also being the fifth largest diamond of any kind. The name comes from Swiss jewelers and specialists in black diamonds de Grisogono, who had the stone fashioned into a high, domed "Moghul" cut and set in a white gold ring with another 702 white diamonds.

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