Mystery about 'world biggest diamond' deepens
Posted: Wed Aug 29, 2007 12:12 pm
By Natasha Joseph
The mystery around what is being called "the world's largest diamond", a 7 000 carat whopper that was apparently found on Monday in a North West mine, is deepening.
A leading gemologist says it would take "20 minutes at most" to test the stone and ascertain if it actually is a diamond, but the monster rock is reportedly still under lock and key in a Johannesburg vault and has not been tested yet.
And the Cape Town property developer, Brett Jolly, who first reported the discovery of the "diamond" to South African media on Monday afternoon did not return a number of phone calls
Jolly's personal assistant, who on Monday had sent a cellphone photograph of the gem to the Cape Times, could also not be reached.
The photograph, which Jolly told the Cape Times had been taken in a car to Johannesburg, showed the "diamond" next to a cellphone. The picture had not been taken in a car: a table, room floor and curtains could clearly be seen.
Gemologist Les Milner of Jewellery Council Labs in Johannesburg said he had seen the photograph, but that without seeing the actual stone he couldn't say "100 percent" whether it was a diamond.
"The form of the stone is that of a diamond," said Milner. "It just looks so perfect, which is amazing."
However, he said diamonds could be "pretty clean" if found near the surface of a mine, and that the "diamond" might already have been cleaned.
Milner said the incredible find was being discussed within the diamond industry.
"People tend to be very sceptical at the moment," Milner said. "There is no actual proof as such yet, it's all in the air."
He said if the stone proved to be a diamond, it would be "the eighth wonder of the world".
"Nothing's impossible. When they found the Cullinan (Diamond, the world's largest, discovered in 1905 and weighing in at 3 106.75 carats), they thought that was amazing."
British newspapers have reported that the stone could fetch millions of pounds. On Tuesday, a De Beers spokesperson denied that the stone had been found at any of the company's mines.
The mystery around what is being called "the world's largest diamond", a 7 000 carat whopper that was apparently found on Monday in a North West mine, is deepening.
A leading gemologist says it would take "20 minutes at most" to test the stone and ascertain if it actually is a diamond, but the monster rock is reportedly still under lock and key in a Johannesburg vault and has not been tested yet.
And the Cape Town property developer, Brett Jolly, who first reported the discovery of the "diamond" to South African media on Monday afternoon did not return a number of phone calls
Jolly's personal assistant, who on Monday had sent a cellphone photograph of the gem to the Cape Times, could also not be reached.
The photograph, which Jolly told the Cape Times had been taken in a car to Johannesburg, showed the "diamond" next to a cellphone. The picture had not been taken in a car: a table, room floor and curtains could clearly be seen.
Gemologist Les Milner of Jewellery Council Labs in Johannesburg said he had seen the photograph, but that without seeing the actual stone he couldn't say "100 percent" whether it was a diamond.
"The form of the stone is that of a diamond," said Milner. "It just looks so perfect, which is amazing."
However, he said diamonds could be "pretty clean" if found near the surface of a mine, and that the "diamond" might already have been cleaned.
Milner said the incredible find was being discussed within the diamond industry.
"People tend to be very sceptical at the moment," Milner said. "There is no actual proof as such yet, it's all in the air."
He said if the stone proved to be a diamond, it would be "the eighth wonder of the world".
"Nothing's impossible. When they found the Cullinan (Diamond, the world's largest, discovered in 1905 and weighing in at 3 106.75 carats), they thought that was amazing."
British newspapers have reported that the stone could fetch millions of pounds. On Tuesday, a De Beers spokesperson denied that the stone had been found at any of the company's mines.
