Excelsior Diamond - The Cutting of The Excelsior

The Cutting of The Excelsior

Finally, after the diamond sat in the vault waiting for a buyer for many years, the owners made the tragic decision to cut the stone into several smaller stones. This decision meant that The Excelsior would never be a single large spectacular faceted stone. At the time, the manager of the DeBeers diamond syndicate said the dividing of the stone into many small pieces was "the greatest tragedy of modern times in the history of famous diamonds". Diamond experts hoped that it would be cut to yield a single large diamond, but it was divided into ten smaller stones. By contrast, the owners of The Cullinan Diamond cut that stone in such a way that the largest faceted diamond in the world came from it. The fate of The Excelsior kept it out of the Smithsonion or other historical museums. It was cut without regard to its historical significance, divided into small, easily sold assorted stones. The Aascher Firm, a world-renowned cutter of large diamonds, cut it in London, the name of the cutter was A. Aascher. The pieces were :

These diamonds were parceled out and sold to several different buyers. The Excelsior I, which came up for sale in 1991 and 1996, was purchased by Robert Mouawad for $2,642,000. The remaining stones were used in various grand jewelry pieces such as extravagant tiaras and fabulous bracelets and other fine jewelry creations.