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The Jonker diamond gets its name from Johannes Jacobus Jonker who was a
62-year old white South African settler with a claim at Elandsfontein,
South Africa and about 5 Km
south of the Premier mine, when he discovered the diamond January 17th 1934.
At the time of its discovery, the stone was the fourth largest gem-quality
diamond ever unearthed with its 726 carats. There was even speculation as to
whether it had once been part of the Cullinan crystal, the largest diamond ever found
which was discovered just 5
Km away, as the cleavage face seemed to match perfectly
with that of the Cullinan.
The Jonker at its rough state and after cut
The Jonker diamond was purchased by Mr.
Joseph Bastiaenen, agent for the Diamond
Corporation Ltd. belonging to Sir Ernest Oppenheimer. Harry Winston, the New
York based diamond dealer, purchased it in 1935 for over £ 150,000.
Young
actress Shirley Temple holding the rough Jonker.
After a request
was made by the De Beers Central Selling Organization, the Jonker stayed in London for some time, until the
conclusion of the Silver Jubilee Celebrations of the Coronation of King
George V and Queen Mary, enabling important dignitaries who were expected in
London for the occasion to inspect the diamond if they so wished. Mr. Winston kindly consented to this special request.
The Jonker diamond returned then to Mr.
Harry Winston's office, in New York city. His immediate task was now to find
an expert diamond cutter to undertake the difficult task of cutting this
large diamond.
Mr. Lazare Kaplan, was chosen to
undertake this difficult task. The Jonker was
subjected to examination and scrutiny both internally and externally in a
process which took several months. On April 27th, 1936, Kaplan did cleave the
diamond, splitting off a 35-carat section of the stone. Finally the rough Jonker diamond was cut into 13 pieces.
The largest
diamond weighted 142.90 carats retained the name Jonker.
It was an emerald-cut, D-color diamond, with 66
facets. The stone was later re-cut to eliminate some flaws and improve its
brilliance. The re-cut stone, also an emerald-cut had 58 facets and weighed
125.35 carats. The Jonker I is one of the most
perfectly cut diamonds in the world.
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Name
of piece separated
|
Cut
|
Ct.
wt. of separated
rough
piece
|
Ct.
wt. of finished gem
|
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Jonker I
|
Emerald
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220
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142.90
|
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Jonker II
|
Emerald
|
79.65
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41.29
|
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Jonker III
|
Emerald
|
65.28
|
35.45
|
|
Jonker IV
|
Emerald
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52.77
|
30.71
|
|
Jonker V
|
Emerald
|
54.19
|
25.78
|
|
Jonker VI
|
Emerald
|
53.95
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24.91
|
|
Jonker VII
|
Emerald
|
43.30
|
19.76
|
|
Jonker VIII
|
Marquise
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35.82
|
15.77
|
|
Jonker IX
|
Emerald
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27.85
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13.55
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Jonker X
|
Emerald
|
29.46
|
11.43
|
|
Jonker XI
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Emerald
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13.57
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5.70
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Jonker XII
|
Emerald
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10.98
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5.30
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Jonker XIII
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Baguette
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8.28
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3.53
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The
Jonker I was purchased by King Farouk of Egypt in
1949, but the whereabouts of the diamond became a mystery after he was deposed
and exiled in 1952. The diamond however re-appeared again after some years,
and the new owner of the diamond was Queen Ratna of
Nepal.
The fate of the smaller products of the Jonker
diamond are uncertain, probably because no records were kept of their
movement. But the Jonker II, which originally
weighed 41.29 carats, but now had a modified weight of 40.26 carats, probably
due to a slight re-cutting, came up for sale at a Sotheby's auction in Geneva
in May 1994, and was sold for U.S. $1, 975, 000.
Jonker I
Jonker VIII
The Maharajah
of Indore was reported to be the purchaser of the Jonkers
V, VII, XI and XII. The Jonker X was rumored to have been purchased by John D. Rockefeller
Jr.
The last
transaction of the Jonker I diamond was in 1977,
when the diamond was sold privately in Hong Kong for a sum of U. S. $ 2, 259,
000, to an anonymous buyer. It is believed that the same anonymous buyer
still owns the diamond today.
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