Our diamonds are sourced from some of the most iconic mines in the world, producing celebrated and historic stones, including the largest gem diamond ever recovered.
Through the acquisition of diamond mining assets that were non-core to De Beers, Petra has amassed interests in four operations (three in South Africa and one in Tanzania), with a major resource base of ca. 227 million carats.
Our diamond heritage
We produce the full spectrum of diamonds, including fancy coloured diamonds, the rarest and often the most valuable. The Cullinan Mine is renowned for its Type IIa white and Type IIb blue diamonds, Williamson is a reliable source of high-value pink diamonds and Finsch for its sought-after octahedral diamonds.
The Cullinan Mine, in particular, shines in our portfolio as it is the source of the world’s largest gem diamond ever recovered: The Cullinan diamond (3,106 carats rough) was cut to form the Great Star of Africa and the Second Star of Africa, the two largest cut diamonds in the British Crown Jewels.
World’s largest gem diamond ever found
diamonds is fancy coloured
The Cullinan – Cullinan Mine
At 3,106 carats in the rough, this is the largest gem diamond ever discovered.
The Cullinan was discovered in January 1905 at the then named Premier Mine in South Africa and named after the chairman of the mining company, Thomas Cullinan. In November, 1907 it was formally presented to King Edward VII as a token of loyalty.
The Cullinan yielded nine major stones and 96 smaller stones. Its two major stones sit within the British Crown Jewels: the Great Star of Africa (530 carats) in The Sovereign’s Sceptre and the Lesser Star of Africa (317 carats) in The Imperial State Crown.
The Great Star of Africa – Cullinan Mine
At 530.20 carats, the Great Star of Africa (aka the Cullinan 1) is one of the largest cut diamonds in the world. It sits in the Royal Sceptre of the British Monarch.
The Crown Jewels are located in the Tower of London and are one of the UK’s most popular tourist attractions.
The Williamson Pink – Williamson
The Williamson Pink is considered the finest pink diamond ever discovered. It was found in October 1947 weighing 54 carats in the rough.
The mine, then owned by the Canadian geologist and royalist Dr John Williamson, gave the diamond to Princess Elizabeth in 1947 as a wedding present.
It was cut into a 23 carat round brilliant and set as the centre of a brooch in the form of a jonquil flower, designed and set by Cartier in 1953.
The Taylor Burton – Cullinan Mine
The Taylor Burton diamond, at 240.8 carat in the rough and 69.42 carat polished, was made famous when it was purchased for Elizabeth Taylor by her husband Richard Burton.
Elizabeth Taylor was one of the world’s most well known diamond collectors and famously commented that “big girls need big diamonds”.
The Golden Jubilee – Cullinan Mine
At 545.65 carats polished, the Golden Jubilee is the largest cut diamond in the world.
The Golden Jubilee Diamond was cut from a large brown diamond of 755.5 carats recovered at the Cullinan Mine in 1986.
The diamond was purchased from De Beers by a group led by Henry Ho of Thailand in 1995.
The Oppenheimer Blue – Cullinan Mine
The 14.62 carat Oppenheimer Blue is the largest fancy vivid blue diamond ever sold at auction. Named for, Sir Philip Oppenheimer of the De Beers family, the stone’s previous owner, the Oppenheimer Blue was sold at auction for US$57.5 million (US$3,935,826 per carat) in May 2016, making it, at the time, the most expensive diamond sold at auction.
The ‘Light of Africa’ – Cullinan Mine
At 103 carats, the D-Flawless diamond named the ‘Light of Africa’ was cut from a 299.3carat rough unearthed from the Cullinan Diamond Mine.
This was discovered in January 2021 as a Type IIa white diamond, which makes up less than 2% of all diamonds, and was exceptional quality in terms of colour and clarity. It sold for $20 million at Christie’s New York Magnificent Jewels sale in June 2022.
The De Beers Blue – Cullinan Mine
Discovered at the Cullinan mine in April 2021, this ‘fancy vivid blue’ is the world’s largest blue diamond ever to go to auction and was described as a ‘once in a generation’ stone and ‘extraordinary treasure’. At 39.34 carats, it was an exceptional Type IIb blue diamond which was then cut to a 15.10 carat step-cut gem, selling for $57.5 million.
The Infinite Blue – Cullinan Mine
Hailing from the Cullinan Mine, the ‘Infinite Blue’ came from the largest stone (25.75 cts) in the Letlapa Tala Collection (link to Letlapa Tala Collection), weighing 85.6 carats in total and originally found in September 2020. The ‘Infinite Blue’ was then cut to a 11.28 carat radiant, cut, and is a rare type IIb stone, accounting for less than 0.1% of all diamonds. Described as one of the rarest, most valuable gems ever discovered, and a manifestation of the earth’s artistry. It fetched US$25.3 million at auction in Hong Kong in October 2023, the third highest price achieved for a blue diamond at auction in Asia.
Read more about the Infinite Blue: The Infinite Blue | Sotheby’s (sothebys.com)
