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Neville, If I read correctly, the original size of the Ernestine was about 600 carats which would support the assertion that the cut and polished stone had lost 2/3 of its weight in the process. The writer of the first article seems to have mixed up the weight in rough state with that of the final stone. A bantam’s egg is about half the size of a chicken egg, and from comparison with other large stones, the cut stone in its final form must have weighed 220 CT and not 74 Ct (1/3 of 220). This however only thickens the plot. The largest and most famous yellow rough diamond ever found is the 616 CT Kimberley Octahedral, dug up in 1972 not far from the place where the Ernestine Diamond came from. Ernestine’s original size was about the same and the resulting 220 CT flawless fancy-yellow diamond should rank in the top 10 of the world’s most famous (and valuable) gems. So why can’t we find it?

The only contender I can find is the similarly sized 205.07-carat "Red Cross Diamond". Like the diamond in the Boston Sunday Post article, this is also a cushion-shaped stone.
The problem is that it is said to have been found in Kimberley in 1901.

Sold by Christies in 2022 for CHF 14,181,250.



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