Sold: De Beer's 1873 Diamond, Still in Kimberlite
January 12, 26
(IDEX Online) - An extremely rare relic from the earliest years of the Kimberley diamond rush - a rough stone, still embedded in kimberlite - sold at auction in London for £10,500 ($14,000).
It dates back to the New Rush at Colesberg Kopje (now better known as the Kimberley mine), in South Africa that began when diamonds were first discovered there in 1871.
Furlong Auction House, at the London Diamond Bourse, in Hatton Garden, included it in a collection of "rare and highly desirable items across jewellery history" in its Collectables & Memorabilia auction on 8 January.
"This hand specimen of kimberlite ("blue ground") contains a visible natural diamond crystal embedded in the matrix and retains its original manuscript presentation label dated May 23rd, 1873," it said in the lot notes.
"The handwritten note - both on the specimen itself and on a later transcribed slip - reads: "Rev'd W. Thompson - A token of esteem from the Cong'l Church, De Beers New Rush, May 23, 1873. M.M.S., Sec'y."
It said surviving labelled geological specimens from this period - especially with an exposed diamond crystal - were exceptionally scarce.
Pics, courtesy Furlong Auction House, show the relic, with a close-up of the rough diamond.