We have already reported on how London’ going gaga over the Queen’s diamond jubilee celebrations. As the Queen completes sixty years of her reign this June, London will be full of joy. No stone has been left unturned to make this an event of the decade. Hotels have already started their bookings and some of them have been already booked with tourists streaming in London from all across the country and the world. We have also reported on how some luxury hotels in London have planned an array of things like high teas to super lunches and special souvenir gifts for their guests. Some renowned jewellery of the city who also have earned a Royal Warrant from Buckingham palace have also recreated a crown for the Queen which will be displayed and will later be out up for sale.
If this was not enough we have another event lined up to mark the Diamond Jubilee of the Queen. An exhibition of the Queen’s jewels has been planned at the Buckingham Palace and it is already touted as the most apt celebration planned to revere the Queen’s six decades of rule.
These are no ordinary jewels. Well they cannot be ordinary because they are after all a possession of the royalty. But the unique thing about these jewels is that they have been made, hold your breath, from a huge rock of diamond which was known for its blue white purity when it was first discovered. Necklaces, brooches and earrings were all made only from this diamond which is supposedly the largest ever. These jewels are worth million pounds and the jewels cost somewhere around £78 million just for the brooches. The other brooches cost around £9.4 million and £4.4 million.Phew!
I am sure I have got you all hooked to the Queen’s precious jewels. Read on if you wish to know more about these jewels and the details of the exhibition also.
All the Queen’s Jewels…
The jewels were made of a Cullinan diamond weighing a whopping 3,106 carats when it was in its non-chiselled state. The diamond also comes with a little piece of history. It was first found at mining site in Pretoria, South Africa way back in 1905. Because of its weight and enormous size the diamond was mistaken to be just another rock and thrown away. After some time the people who committed the folly of throwing away the diamond realized its dazzling importance.
It was after the Chairman of the mining company, Thomas Cullinan, that the diamond was named. Measuring a massive 4â€by 2.5†by 2.12â€, the diamond was found to be too huge to be real. It remained quite a wonder till the Prime Minister of a British Colony, Transvall, acquired it and presented it the King as a mark of his friendship.
It was IJ Asscher of Amsterdam who were vested with the responsibility of cutting the diamond and chiselling the stone. After spending a good eight months on cutting the stone, the diamond cutters managed to chisel out 96 small brilliant and nine principal stones out of the diamond.
The two largest gems that were sculpted out of the diamond were presented to King Edward VII and were placed in the royal sceptre and the state crown. The two jewels have been housed at Tower of London and will not be a part of the exhibit.
The jewels that will be a part of the exhibit were actually made for Queen Mary, the King’s Daughter in Law and his wife, Queen Alexandra. The jewellery was made out of seven stones.
The jewel exhibit will also include the necklace which was worn during the Delhi Durbar. The Cullinan diamond VII hangs as a pendant in this necklace. Cullinan III and Cullinan IV diamond weighing 94.4 carat and 63.3 carat respectively adorn a brooch. A heart shaped brooch has been made of the Cullinan V diamond which weighs 18.8 carats. The smallest of the stones Cullinan  IX weighs only 4.4 carat and has been used to make a ring.
