The diamond takes pride of place as one of the most significant and historical diamonds in the world, not so much for it's size, shape, color, or clarity, but because it has gone down in history, as the diamond that turned the tides of fortune in South Africa, setting off a diamond rush that eventually led to the discovery of the world famous Kimberley mines, and other diamond mines, that changed the course of history in South Africa forever, and created unforeseen and enormous economic prospects for the development of the country. The diamond is a D-color, pear shaped, three-sided stellar brilliant cut stone, weighing 47.69 carats. The diamond thus became known as the Dudley Diamond, after it's new owner. Hunt &Roskell for £25,000, and presented it to his wife the Countess of Dudley. The diamond eventually became the property of the Earl of Dudley, who purchased it from the Queen's jewelers Messrs. Subsequently after Lilienfeld forwarded the diamonds to their office in England, it was purchased by Louis Hond, a diamond cutter, who fashioned it into an oval three-sided brilliant. The Star of South Africa was the initial name given to this diamond, when it was purchased as an 83.5-carat rough diamond, by Lilienfeld Brothers of Hopetown, from Schalk van Niekerk, in 1868, for £11,200.
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Photograph of Kimberley and the edge of the Kimberley Mine, 1873.Open FREE Unlimited Store Join Our Newsletter Origin of name Kimberley and the edge of the Kimberley Mine, 1873. Note the horse and cart on a roadway in the middle ground. In the foreground two miners sit and lean on a sorting table while their black labourers wash gravel.
Note the canvass tents used for sleeping quarters.Ī fascinating photograph of (New Rush) diamond mine, 1872, showing the individual claims and the roadways in-between and the rough encampment of tents and shacks beyond that was to become the city of Kimberley. The European Prospector sits astride his horse, while a fellow Miner appears to have a tethered baboon. Sheets of corrugated iron prevent anyone falling into the shaft. To the left of the image a small shaft has been sunken with an overhead gantry and winding gear. Loin-clothed black labourers sit down and around several tripots to eat. ‘Work Break’ – Early diamond mining days at New Rush (Kimberley). A beard and red cap appears to have been de rigueur too.Īn early photograph of diamond mining, Diamond Fields, Kimberley Mine, 1871. In this photograph are all the tools of the trade -namely wheelbarrow, bucket, sieve, shovel and sorting table. This kopje was the outer evidence of the ancient volcanic pipe and was to be mined down to the plain surface and then as an open cast mine to create the (Big Hole). This kopje was located on the De Beer Brothers farm Vooruitzicht. Very early photograph of Fleetwood Rawstorne’s Red Cap party of Miners working on Colesberg Kopje. There is also a fascinating reconstruction of the ‘Old Town’ at the big hole that gives visitors an idea of what it was like to live there back in the town’s heydays of the late 1800s. Visitors can go underground in a recreation of a mine shaft of the period and learn about the history of diamond mining in Kimberley, see historic memorabilia and buy diamonds slightly cheaper than usual. Today, the Big Hole and its surrounds have been converted into a museum and tourist attraction. This huge company further worked on the Big Hole until it came to the depth of 215 meters, with a surface area of about 17 hectares and perimeter of 1.6 kilometers. On 13 March 1888 the leaders of the various mines decided to amalgamate the separate diggings into one big mine and one big company known as De Beers Consolidated Mines Limited, with life governors such as Cecil John Rhodes, Alfred Beit, and Barney Barnato. The unsanitary conditions, scarcity of water and fresh vegetables as well as the intense heat in the summer, also took their toll.
As digging progressed, many men met their deaths in mining accidents. In 1872, one year after digging started, the population of the camp of diggers grew to around 50,000.
From mid-July 1871 to 1914 up to 50,000 miners dug the hole with picks and shovels, yielding 2,720 kilograms (6,000 lb 13,600,000 carats) of diamonds. The ensuing scramble for claims led to the place being called New Rush, later renamed Kimberley in 1873. The first diamonds here were found by Erasmus Jacobs on Colesberg Kopje by members of the “Red Cap Party” from Colesberg on the farm Vooruitzigt belonging to the De Beers brothers, in 1871. Kimberley, South Africa, is home to the world’s largest diamond mine, also known as the “Big Hole.” Dug by humans and so large it is visible from space, the pit has yielded some of the world’s largest diamonds and made the De Beers name famous worldwide.
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