All That Glitters

The world's largest Diamond - Cullinan

The world's largest diamond-- 3,106 carats, 1 3/4 pounds avoirdupois, and valued at $750,000-- was literally stumbled upon in Premier Mine #2, near Pretoria, South Africa, in early 1905. It was then sent by ordinary registered mail to England, where King Edward Vll exclaimed on seeing it:"I should have kicked it aside as a lump of glass if I had seen it on the road." One hundred and five stones were cut from this diamond, known as the Cullinan. Two of the largest, the 530-- carat Star of Africa and the 317-- carat Cullinan ll, are part of the British crown jewels.

Something About Gold

Gold is the sixteenth most rare of the chemical elements. If all the gold produced in the world in the past five centuries were melted down, the result could be compressed into a single cube fifty feet on a side. Though it is one of the rarest metals, gold was the first to be discovered.

Clear Diamond is black
Diamond is the only gemstone composed of just one chemical element, carbon. Although crystal-clear, it is black when reduced to dust. Diamond can be completely consumed by fire at temperatures ranging from 1,400° to 1,607° F., depending on the hardness of the gem. But don't worry about your diamonds; such temperatures are seldom achieved in ordinary burning buildings. Only in extensive conflagrations, such as the San Francisco fire of 1906, do temperatures get high enough, up to an estimated 2,200°F.