The world’s largest rough diamond, valued at more than $ 70 million, will be auctioned on June 29 in London, Sotheby’s auction house said Wednesday.
This rough stone, named “Lesedi La Rona”, was discovered nine months ago in Botswana, by the diamond mining company Lucara.
“It’s a 1.109 carat diamond, it’s the largest diamond ever discovered in over 100 years,” Sotheby’s international jewelry president David Bennett said Wednesday in New York.
He added that it was the first time that a rough diamond of this size was being auctioned.
He will be exhibited in New York until Sunday, before joining Europe, passing through Antwerp before being exhibited at Sotheby’s in London from June 18 to 28.
The world’s largest diamond record is still held by the legendary “Cullinan” of 3,016.75 carats, discovered in 1905 in South Africa. It had been turned into nine diamonds for the British Crown Jewels.
Once acquired, the stone could be broken in order to be used for jewelry making or, on the contrary, be left as is for a private collection.
The same day of the discovery of “Lesedi La Rona”, another stone of 830 carats was found in Botswana, the third largest diamond in the world, told AFP William Lamb, the CEO of Lucara.
2016-05-04 19:36:30 – New York (AFP) – © 2016 AFP
