Diamonds And Clay, The Story Of The Cullinan Group Of Companies 1902-1977 By A.P. Cartwright
Diamonds And Clay, The Story Of The Cullinan Group Of Companies 1902-1977 By A.P. Cartwright
Hardcover
ISBN 086843017X
Publisher: Purnell & Sons Ltd 1977, 1st edition
Used - Very Good. This book is in very good condition. The DJ has some limited signs of wear and tear but the pages are clean, intact and the spine remains undamaged. This book has clearly been well maintained and looked after thus far. The book is protected with a Cellophane cover.
"Diamonds and Clay is an appropriate title for this book because it describes how the renowned Sir Thomas Cullinan discovered, almost simultaneously, in the year 1882 a diamond mine and a series of clay pits that were to be the basis of two entirely different industries. If ever a man had the legendary Luck of the Irish, Sir Thomas was that man. He was a builder and in that capacity built the first Chamber of Mines in Johannesburg, the Rand Club and many other buildings that were famous landmarks in the nineties. But his hobby was prospecting for diamonds. Almost 90 years ago he told his young wife that one day he would find a diamond mine and present her with the biggest diamond in the world.
He kept his promise. On the outskirts of Pretoria he found a diamond pipe which became the Premier Mine. In this mine was found the Cullinan Diamond, the biggest diamond the world has ever seen. Alas, It proved too big to make a present for his wife for it was valued at that time at R 18 000 000. The great diamond was presented to King Edward VII by the people of the Transvaal Colony and now adds lustre to Britain’s Crown Jewels. The clay pits, while less glamorous than the diamonds, founded an industry which today is of great importance to the South African steel makers. It took thirty four years to get this industry on to a profitable basis and throughout those years Sir Thomas supported the company and paid its debts while four of his sons struggled to get it on an even keel."
"This book describes both the discovery of the immense diamond that made the name Cullinan world famous and the long, hard struggle of the family to establish a market for refractories. This once struggling industry made a net profit of R 2 840 000 in 1977. It is for you to decide which is the more interesting story.
This book aims not only to correct misconceptions, but to summarise what is already known about the discovery of the Cullinan and the events that followed, and at the same time reveal some important and unexplored evidence that eluded contemporary historians. The research is based on archival records in South Africa as well as on articles that appeared in the local and international press within the first two decades after the diamond had been found. 110 years after the discovery of this exceptional crystal, perhaps the time has come to tell the full story of the Cullinan diamond, from which nine major gemstones were created, known as Cullinan I – IX. Today these diamonds adorn the Sovereign’s Sceptre, Imperial State Crown of Great Britain and other major jewels belonging to Her Majesty Queen Elisabeth II. Wonders of nature excite people’s imagination, and the Cullinan is no exception. While it is almost impossible to obtain accurate facts about the origin of historic diamonds such as the Regent, the Orlov or the Koh-i-noor, claims regarding the Cullinan can be verified. Hitherto unexplored sources from 1905–1910 have brought to light unknown and relevant facts. "
