About the Record-Breaking Excelsior Diamond

Until its sun was eclipsed by the revelation of the Cullinan Diamond, the largest diamond which the earth has given to man was the Excelsior, which was ultimately named the Jubilee in honour of the celebration of the sixtieth anniversary of the accession of the late Queen Victoria. The Excelsior-Jubilee was discovered in the Jagersfontein mine in the Orange River Colony, June 30, 1893. The lucky Kaffir who discovered it was rewarded with about $2500 in money, and a horse equipped with a saddle and bridle. The rough stone weighed 971 3/4 carats, measured two and one-half inches in length, two inches in breadth, and one inch in thickness. Like the Cullinan Diamond, its predecessor had a fault that prevented its becoming a single gem; this was a black spot in the centre which made it necessary to cleave it, as the Cullinan was cleaved. The larger portion was cut into an absolutely perfect brilliant, weighing 239 international carats of 205 milligrams and measuring one and five-eighths inches in length, one and three-eighths in breadth, and one inch in depth. The Excelsior-Jubilee is a blue-white stone of the purest water and in all its qualities approximates perfection. This diamond's predecessor in holding the world's record for weight and size, in the rough, was the "Great Mogul" which is supposed to have weighed 787 1/2 carats. The history of this stone is obscure and so tainted with tradition that the references to it in the various stories of the great diamonds of the world are of doubtful authority.