121 Years Ago Today: When the Cullinan Diamond Was Found — and Flung

On January 26, 1905, a glint in a South African mine wall changed diamond history forever. Exactly 121 years later, the Cullinan Diamond still dazzles — not just because it remains the largest gem-quality rough diamond ever discovered, but because its origin story includes a few moments so improbable they sound almost fictional.

Weighing 3,106 carats — more than 1.3 pounds and often described as roughly the size of a human heart — the Cullinan’s journey from mine wall to crown jewel is packed with strange twists. Here are three of the oddest.

Oddity No. 1: The Diamond That Got Tossed Out a Window

Perhaps the least-reported tale is also the most shocking. After the stone was removed from the Premier Mine near Pretoria, it made its way to a mine office for inspection. There, a skeptical manager reportedly dismissed it as a worthless chunk of glass or crystal. Diamonds, after all, simply weren’t that big.

So what did he do? According to long-standing lore, he threw it out the window.

Fortunately, a cooler head prevailed. The stone was retrieved, examined more carefully, and confirmed to be the real thing — an absolutely extraordinary diamond that would soon stun the world.

Oddity No. 2: “Who Put That There?”

The Cullinan’s discovery itself was nearly dismissed as a prank. Mine superintendent Frederick Wells spotted the gleaming object while conducting a routine inspection about 18 feet below the surface. At first, he thought someone had embedded a piece of glass into the rock wall as a joke.

Curious, Wells climbed down and pried it loose with a pocketknife. What he held was a crystal-clear, fist-sized diamond of unimaginable proportions. Even then, disbelief lingered — its size defied everything known about diamonds at the time.

Once verified, the stone was named after the mine’s owner, Sir Thomas Cullinan, and quickly became a global sensation.

Oddity No. 3: The World’s Most Famous Diamond… Sent by Mail

When the Cullinan was purchased by the Transvaal government and destined for King Edward VII as a birthday gift, security concerns reached a fever pitch. To thwart thieves, officials staged an elaborate ruse: a fake diamond, guarded by police, was shipped aboard a steamer amid great publicity.

The real Cullinan? It traveled quietly to England in an ordinary parcel sent through the mail.

Both arrived safely — proving that sometimes the simplest solution is the safest.

The story didn’t end there. In 1908, the Cullinan was sent to Amsterdam, where master cutters at I.J. Asscher & Co. undertook the nerve-wracking task of dividing it. The result: nine principal diamonds, 96 smaller stones, and a quantity of polished “ends.”

Among them are the most famous of all — the 530-carat Cullinan I, set in the Sovereign’s Sceptre, and the 317-carat Cullinan II, mounted in the Imperial State Crown — both enduring symbols of diamond history.

Credits: Image of rough Cullinan Diamond by Plate I, The Cullinan (1908)., Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons. Image of mining official holding the rough Cullinan Diamond by National Library of Poland, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.