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#TheRiver: Where is the real Cullinan Diamond at?

Set against a backdrop similar to the discovery of the Cullinan Diamond, The River follows two families who are divided by the discovery of a massive diamond in Cullinan. The diamond has the possibility to change the fate of both the Dlaminis and the Mokoenas, but ends up making the rift between them even bigger.

But what happened to the real Cullinan Diamond that inspired 1Magic’s showstopper telenovela?

The real Cullinan Diamond was discovered at the Premier Mine in Cullinan, just a stone’s throw away from Pretoria, on 26 January 1905. The huge jewel weighed an astonishing 3 106.75 carats and is the largest rough diamond ever found, according to the Cape Town Diamond Museum.

Mark Cullinan, great-grandson of Sir Thomas Cullinan, previously told News24 that the diamond was sold by his grandfather’s mine to the Transvaal Government for £150 000. "It was the Transvaal Government's decision to give the diamond to King Edward VII as a gesture of goodwill,” explained Cullinan. And so, the diamond made the journey from South Africa to England. Transporting the priceless gem to the UK was quite the mission. According to the Cape Town Diamond Museum, detectives from London were asked to transport a replica of the diamond as a decoy while the real Cullinan was sent in a plain box via parcel post.

The diamond was then cut into nine stones and 96 smaller round-cut diamonds by the Asscher’s of Amsterdam

The largest diamond, known as Cullinan I or the Great Star of Africa, was mounted in the head of the Sovereign's Sceptre while the second largest stone was mounted in the Imperial State Crown. The seven other major diamonds are still privately owned by Queen Elizabeth II, who inherited them from her grandmother, Queen Mary, in 1953. Today, all nine of the Cullinans are still worn by Queen Elizabeth and the royal family. 


Brand-new episodes of  The River air every night on Showmax!  Get a free 14-day trial if you are a first-time user when you sign up for Showmax, and if you’re a DStv Premium subscriber, get Showmax at no extra cost. DStv Compact and Compact Plus subscribers get Showmax for R49. Sign up now »

This post is sponsored by Showmax and produced by Brandstudio24 for Channel24.

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