Half a century has passed since the incredible discovery of the world’s largest octahedral diamond, a dazzling 616-carat Type 1 yellow diamond. Despite its grandeur, it remains in its original state, uncut, unpolished, and unsold, maintaining a heritage that spans generations.
It has been fifty years since the largest octahedral diamond in the world was found, yet it is still unpolished, unsold, and undisturbed.
The 616-carat Type 1 yellow diamond comes from the Dutoitspan Mine in Kimberley, South Africa, and dates back to April 17, 1974. This mine, which has been in operation since the 1870s, was shut down in 2005.
Abel Maretela, a worker at De Beers, found the diamond and was rewarded handsomely with a house and a sizable bonus.
Moses Madondo, the CEO of De Beers Group managed operations, arranged for Al Cook, the CEO of the De Beers Group, to see the diamond during a visit to Johannesburg.
Cook wrote on LinkedIn that, “As a geologist, I am deeply intrigued by the origins of diamonds, even predating their discovery.” Cook said that he was fascinated by the history of diamonds.
He clarified that the diamond’s Type 1 classification suggests that it formed more than a billion years ago, in the mantle, around 150 kilometers below the surface of the Earth.
This diamond was carried to the surface of the Earth by a kimberlite volcano approximately 100 million years ago, during the Cretaceous period. Its remarkable yellow color is caused by nitrogen atoms that were caught in the carbon lattice during the mantle’s creation.