Cullinan is not a complete crystal, it is only a part of a big crystal. Cullinan was too big for anyone at that time. Later, it was acquired by the local authorities in Transvaal for 6,543.8+0.5 million pounds, and presented to the British royal family on February 9, 654.38+0.907 to celebrate the birthday of King Edward III.
At the beginning of 1908, Cullinan was sent to Amsterdam, the Netherlands, the most authoritative city for diamond polishing at that time, and was handed over to J. Aschar for processing, with a processing fee of 80,000 pounds. Because the original stone is too big, it needs to be broken into several small pieces as planned in advance. It is extremely difficult to break it, because if the research is not enough or the technology is not good, this huge gem will break into a pile of small pieces of little value.
The crushing work was completed by the famous Dutch craftsman Jo Aschar. He spent several weeks studying Cullinan, made a glass model according to its size and shape, and designed a set of tools. He first tested the glass model with these tools, and the model was indeed split. After a few days' rest, in February 1908, 10, he and his assistant came to a special studio, clamped Cullinan in a big pliers, and then put a special steel wedge in a pre-ground groove on it. Joe Ashcar hit the steel wedge with a heavy stick, and with a bang, Cullinan did not move, but the steel wedge was broken. Cold sweat streamed down Ashcar's face, and he put a second steel wedge in an atmosphere as tense as an explosion. Hit hard again. This time, Kulifu split in half as planned, and Ashcar fainted on the floor.
After Cullinan split, three skilled craftsmen worked 14 hours a day and pondered for 8 months. A * * * is ground into 9 big diamonds and 96 small diamonds. The total weight of this 105 diamond is 1063.65 carats, accounting for 34.25% of Cullinan's original weight. It can be seen that after diamond is processed into diamond, the weight loss is great. The largest of the nine larger diamonds is called "African Star I", that is, "Cullinan 1". It weighs 530.2 carats, is in the shape of a water drop, and has 74 polished surfaces. It is also the largest diamond in the world today, inlaid on the scepter of the king of England. The second largest is called "African Star II", weighing 3 17.4 carats, with a square appearance and 64 facets. It is the second largest diamond in the world, and now it is set in the center under the crown of the British Empire. The weights of the other seven capsules are 94.4, 63.6, 65,438+08.8, 65,438+065,438+0.5, 8.8, 6.8 and 4.39 carats respectively.
The nine big diamonds grinded by Cullinan all belong to the British royal family. Among them, "Cullinan No.1" and "Cullinan No.4" were once embedded in the Queen Mary's crown made in191year, and were later taken down for the queen's collection, and the crown was replaced by a replica of crystal. 19 19, another gem diamond weighing 1500 carats was found in Primir mine. The weight is the third in the world. It is also a fragment of a big crystal, similar in color to Cullinan. So some people think that it was broken from the same big crystal as Cullinan, so this diamond has not been given a special name.