A hundred and seventeen years ago on this day an immodest piece of glinting rock caught the curious, restless and searching eyes of Frederick Wells, a surface Manager employed to supervise the mining of diamonds in Transvaal, South Africa. He was very sceptical of his find but the glint emanating from that half-kilogram of off-bright rock stirred a hope he had never experienced before.
He had just discovered the biggest piece of unearthed diamond. He named it Cullinan after Sir Thomas Cullinan who had founded that mine three years ago. The rock weighed about 3,106 carats (621.2 grams). It was 10.1 cms (4.0 inches) long, 6.35 cms (2.5 inches) wide and 5.9 cms (2.3 inches) deep.
As the then centre of the civilised world, the diamond was transported to London from South Africa. It was ostensibly put on a steam boat and ceremoniously locked in the Captain’s safe. Private detectives were hired for the safe’s protection. Only, the diamond so protected was a fake. The actual Cullinan was sent to England by standard post in a simple box.
There were no immediate buyers for this invaluable piece of rock despite it being displayed in London for some considerable time. Eventually, it was purchased by the Transvaal government at a cost of 150,000 pounds (roughly 20 million pounds today) and was presented in 1907 to the reigning British monarch, King Edward VII.
The King decided to press into service the best known expert on cutting and polishing diamonds, I.J. Asscher of Amsterdam. Unaided by the technology of today, Asscher went about his task of cutting the diamond with excitement but a lot of trepidation as well. Asscher’s cleaver played with the rock and after months of tense and meticulous application, it was cut into 9 large stones and about 100 smaller ones. The largest of these is the 530.2 carat Great Star of Africa, a pear-shaped gem set in the sceptre of the British King while the other piece, the 317 carat Second Star of Africa was to become the dazzling piece de resistance of the Imperial Crown. Both still rightfully retain their place in the crown jewels of Great Britain.
The Cullinan’s history and fate retain the transparency of its colour and the simplicity of its acquisition. Others, such as the Hope diamond, the Daria-i-Noor and the Koh-i-Noor have a far more chequered past and are believed to have caused the ends of empires. History and folklore, facts and myth make much more of a diamond than the extraordinary gift of nature that it is. It may, scientifically, be just a chunk of carbon, but over the years it has taken on properties that give it a mysterious allure. The superstitious believe that the diamond can bring you either good luck or invite the wrath of the gods. The diamond’s beauty is dazzling, but it is the glittering myths associated with it, that make it a stone beyond compare.
Beyond riches and the oscillating fortunes so effected by this incredibly hypnotizing stone, its place in human heart; and the intensity of emotions and sentiments that it evokes remains non-parreil. It has found place in poetry, fiction and artistic oeuvres, in physical display of passion, love and affection; and in gestures of immortal lovers. The great romantic Elizabeth Browning could not find a better comparison for her love as she wrote in her poem “I Name you Diamond”:
“I Name you Diamond
Hard and rigid
You stand
Against fire and wind
Immovable
A rock among men.”
There is even a poetic style named the ‘Diamante’, where seven lines of text form the shape of a diamond, developed in 1969 by Iris Tiedt.
A diamond encompasses within itself and its myriad forms and hues every facet and aspect of human behaviour, nature, emotion, and even evolution. On the anniversary of the discovery of its largest specimen, let us acknowledge how it exemplifies exaltation at the highest and the sublime at the profoundest, be it of beauty, wealth, emotion, or destiny.
scribo ad LX 