Excelsior diamond, until the discovery of the Cullinan diamond in 1905, the world’s largest-known uncut diamond. When found by a worker loading a truck in the De Beers mine at Jagersfontein, Orange Free State, on June 30, 1893, the blue-white stone weighed about 995 carats. After long study the Excelsior diamond was cut (1904) by I.J. Asscher and Company of Amsterdam into 21 stones ranging in weight from less than 1 carat to more than 70 carats.

Britannica Chatbot logo

Britannica Chatbot

Chatbot answers are created from Britannica articles using AI. This is a beta feature. AI answers may contain errors. Please verify important information using Britannica articles. About Britannica AI.