The Story of 'The Jonker Diamond'

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The Story of 'The Jonker Diamond' (1936)

Re-enactment of how the 726-carat Jonker diamond was discovered in South Africa in 1905 by the family of Jacobus Jonker, how it was sold to Harry Winston, and how it was cut by Lazare Kaplan... Read allRe-enactment of how the 726-carat Jonker diamond was discovered in South Africa in 1905 by the family of Jacobus Jonker, how it was sold to Harry Winston, and how it was cut by Lazare Kaplan.Re-enactment of how the 726-carat Jonker diamond was discovered in South Africa in 1905 by the family of Jacobus Jonker, how it was sold to Harry Winston, and how it was cut by Lazare Kaplan.

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6.0/10

206

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4User reviews

See production info at IMDbPro

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Trivia
The Jonker diamond was found in South Africa on 17 Jan 1934. At 726 carats, it was the 4th largest uncut diamond ever found at the time. There is speculation that it may be part of the Cullinan diamond discovered in 1905, the largest gem quality diamond ever found, at 3106.75 carats. The Jonker was cut into 13 diamonds, with the largest an Emerald cut diamond weighing 142.90 carats.

Goofs
The show states the diamond was cut into 20 smaller stones; the actual number was 13.

Quotes
Narrator: Stunned by the sudden, dramatic change of luck. Here was the fulfillment of a soul consuming desire. The realization of a mad dream.

Connections
Featured in MGM Parade: Episode #1.16 (1955)

User reviews4

Review

Featured review

6/10

The Big Stone

A Smith called Pete narrates the tale of how the Jonker Diamond, the huge blue-white stone, was discovered. Of course there's a bit of emphasizing the hardship of the search, and Jonker's decision to quit the evening before the diamond was actually discovered is undoubtedly an invention, by Jonker if not the writers.

The fact that it was shipped from a London to New York by parcel post is true. Gigantic stones have been transported by common mail and in the pockets of Rotterdam diamond cutters, precisely because no one would expect that; on 47th Street when zu worked there, many of the dealers would walk around with hundreds of thousands of dollars of stones in belts around their waists, it seemed unremarkable.

Of course what made this short interesting to its contemporary audience was the huge sums of money involved and the potential loss if the diamond cutter made an error. He didn't. That's why he was chosen to cut it.