Home of the World's Largest Diamond

Approximately 20 minutes drive east of Pretoria, lies the picturesque and historic Victorian village of Cullinan, the home of the Diamond Mine of the same name.  Sir Thomas Cullinan discovered an alluvial diamond in the area in the late 19th century and acquired the land a few years later.  The kimberlite pipe was discovered in 1902 and mining operations started shortly afterwards.
In 1905, the largest rough diamond ever found at 3 106 carats, was unearthed. It was cleaved in Amsterdam resulting in nine stones being cut, the largest of which is the Great Star of Africa, a pear-shaped diamond of 530.20 carats and is the second largest cut diamond in the world.
The Transvaal Government purchased it and presented it to King Edward Vlll on his 66th birthday.  It is set in the sceptre of the Crown Jewels and is housed along with other royal jewels in the Tower of London.
de Beers took ownership of the mine and operated it as an open cast mine before selling it to Petra Diamonds in 2007 and today the Kimberlite pipe is mined primarily by underground shafts.  Cullinan is famous for the rare blue diamonds that are found there and which at one stage were sold exclusively to US government agencies for use in advanced electronics.
Both surface and underground tours are conducted which include a visit to the museum, diamond cutting workshop and jewellery gallery.  Quaint shops in the Victorian architectural style provide a browsing experience while the restaurants cater for the "inner man".  Various accommodation options are available and steam train outings are run from Pretoria.

It is an outing that is a firm favourite of our overseas visitors. 

http://www.cullinandiamonds.co.za/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Premier_Mine

An Early Magnates Mansion

Some 25 kms east of Pretoria lies Zwartkoppies Hall, otherwise known as the Sammy Marks Museum, a unique Victorian mansion set in a large country estate. The interior is preserved as though the family still lives there and is full of priceless furniture and other Victorian era treasures.  Sammy Marks Square in Pretoria? Lewis and Marks Building in Johannesburg?  Just who was this Sammy Marks?
The story starts in Lithuania in the mid-19th century when Samuel was born to a humble tailor but, amid increasing persecution, he moved to Sheffield as a teenager where his uncle had a cutlery manufacturing business. At the age of 21, Sammy embarked for Cape Town with a canteen of cutlery providing him with the capital to begin trading as a "smous" or travelling salesman.  Joined by his cousin, Isaac Lewis, they followed the diamond rush to Kimberley and quickly built up their business supplying merchandise to the miners before branching out into diamond trading. Ever the visionary, he realised the need for coal to power the diamond mines and moved to the Transvaal, now Gauteng, and soon became the King of Coal.  
Ever the entrepreneur, Sammy's business interests spanned gold and coal mining, a distillery, a canning factory, a glass factory, a brick and tile works and an iron and steel works and most of these were the precursors to well known and major enterprises today.  The story is told of how he was particularly intrigued by a valley he would traverse as he travelled between his home in Pretoria and the coal mines in Vereeniging. Intuition led him to propose to his two partners that they sell their coal interests and buy significant land holdings in the valley but he was outvoted.  Subsequently, the farms he proposed buying was where major gold deposits were discovered only a few years later and where modern Johannesburg stands today!
A close friendship and trust grew between Sammy and President Kruger and his cabinet ministers as well as well known Boer Generals Botha, de Wet and de la Rey but equally close ties developed between himself and the Lords Roberts, Kitchener and Milner of the British forces.  A lookout on the estate would forewarn the household which dignitaries were approaching so that the appropriate flag could be hoisted in welcome and it is recorded that Sammy played an invaluable role as a go between the two sides..  

An excellent tea garden and restaurant serves delicious meals and cakes - highly recommended.  Guided tours are conducted several times a day starting at 10am on most days of the year.

Tel: +27 (0)12 802 1150
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sammy_Marks
http://www.ditsong.org.za/sammymarks.htm