Diamond History

A Shiny Pebble on the Orange River

The story of the Eureka Diamond begins in 1866 on the Jacobs family farm, De Kalk, near Hopetown on the Orange River in what is now South Africa's Northern Cape.

Fifteen-year-old Erasmus Stephanus Jacobs was collecting attractive stones near the river when he found an unusually bright pebble.

At the time, there was no established diamond-mining industry in the region and little reason for the Jacobs family to suspect that the stone was anything extraordinary.

Erasmus Jacobs

Erasmus Jacobs is generally credited with finding the diamond that later became known as the Eureka.

Accounts of the discovery vary in some details, but a later affidavit from Jacobs stated that he picked up the bright pebble on his father's farm when he was about fifteen years old.

The stone eventually attracted the attention of neighboring farmer Schalk van Niekerk, who suspected that the unusual pebble might be valuable.

Identifying the Stone as a Diamond

Van Niekerk passed the stone to traveling trader John O'Reilly, who carried it to Colesberg in an effort to determine its identity.

The stone was examined by local officials and was eventually sent to Dr. William Guybon Atherstone, a physician and geologist in Grahamstown who had experience identifying minerals and gemstones.

Atherstone confirmed that the pebble was a genuine diamond weighing approximately 21.25 carats.

The confirmation was historically significant. A large diamond had now been verified from a region that was not yet recognized internationally as a major diamond source.

A Discovery That Changed South Africa

The Eureka did not immediately trigger the enormous diamond rush that would soon transform the region, but it provided compelling evidence that diamonds existed naturally in South Africa.

The discovery received widespread attention and encouraged prospectors, traders and geologists to take reports of South African diamonds seriously.

Only a few years later, the discovery of the much larger Star of South Africa intensified interest dramatically and helped ignite the great diamond rushes that led to the development of Kimberley.

GIA identifies the Eureka as the first significant South African diamond and credits discoveries such as the Eureka with helping establish the foundations of the modern diamond industry.

International Attention at the Paris Exhibition

Soon after its identification, the Eureka became an international curiosity.

The diamond was associated with the Paris Exposition of 1867, one of the great international exhibitions of the nineteenth century.

Historical accounts differ over whether the actual diamond or a replica was continuously displayed in Paris, but the event helped introduce the South African discovery to an international audience.

What had begun as an unusual pebble in river gravel had become evidence that an entirely new diamond-producing region might exist.

Sir Philip Wodehouse and the Eureka

The diamond was eventually acquired by Sir Philip Wodehouse, Governor of the Cape Colony.

Wodehouse subsequently took the diamond to Britain, where it remained for many years.

During its time in Europe, the rough stone was cut and polished, transforming it from a 21.25-carat rough crystal into the considerably smaller finished gemstone known today.

A Century in Britain

Following its departure from South Africa, the Eureka remained in Britain for much of the next century and passed through private ownership.

It appeared periodically in important diamond exhibitions, including the Ageless Diamond Exhibition held in London in 1959.

Although the Eureka is neither among the world's largest nor most valuable diamonds, its historic significance increasingly outweighed its physical size.

Purchased by De Beers

Roughly a century after the diamond's discovery, De Beers acquired the Eureka.

Its return to South African ownership was symbolically important because the stone represented the beginning of the diamond discoveries that ultimately transformed the country's economy and mining industry.

Presented to South Africa

De Beers subsequently presented the historic diamond to the people of South Africa.

GIA reported in 1984 that the 10.73-carat Eureka had been placed on permanent loan at the De Beers Mine Museum in Kimberley.

The Eureka and the South African Diamond Rush

The discovery of the Eureka demonstrated that diamonds could be found in the river gravels of the Orange River region.

Other discoveries soon followed. The 1869 discovery of the 83.5-carat rough diamond later known as the Star of South Africa created far greater excitement and helped trigger large-scale prospecting.

Prospectors poured into the Northern Cape, first searching river deposits and later discovering diamond-bearing volcanic pipes near what became Kimberley.

These events eventually led to massive mining operations, the development of the Big Hole, the rise of companies such as De Beers, and the emergence of South Africa as one of the world's most important diamond-producing nations.

Why the Eureka Diamond Is Famous

The Eureka Diamond is not famous because of exceptional size, flawless clarity or extraordinary color.

Its importance comes primarily from its historical significance.

The Eureka was the first major diamond discovery to draw international attention to South Africa's diamond resources. Its identification demonstrated that the region possessed genuine diamond deposits and helped encourage the exploration that followed.

In that sense, the small yellow diamond found by a fifteen-year-old boy helped set in motion events that transformed the global diamond industry.

Legacy of the Eureka Diamond

Few famous diamonds illustrate so clearly how the historical importance of a gemstone can exceed its monetary or physical value.

The Eureka's discovery connected a simple river pebble with one of the most dramatic mining booms of the nineteenth century.

From Erasmus Jacobs' discovery near the Orange River to the diamond fields of Kimberley and the emergence of the modern global diamond trade, the Eureka remains an enduring symbol of the beginning of South Africa's diamond era.