Third Largest Diamond Sold For $53 Million

"Lesedi La Rona" By Source (WP:NFCC#4)

The biggest diamond ever found in 100 years was on sold Monday. Lucara Diamond Corporation made the sale for a whopping $53 million. The 1,109 - carat stone had been in the market for about a year. "Lesedi La Rona” as the gem is known now belongs to the Vancouver company Graff Diamonds. The Lawrence Graff Company also bought the 373 - carat stone that broke off the “Lesedi La Rona” in May for $17.5 million.


The fist sized diamond remained unsold at last year's Sotheby's auction in London. Buyers shied away when analysis largely suggest the stone would be difficult to cut down to several little gems before being placed in the market. More so, the color raised a question as it could mean more challenges during polishing. A $61 million offer came in from Sotherby, the auctioneer, but was turned down all the same as it did not meet the undisclosed reserve price.


Lucara Diamond's share surged in Toronto appreciating up to 7.4% in a single day. London based BMO capital analyst commented on Tuesday that this sale would lift the financial books of the company. "Lucara could flow funds to shareholders as a special dividend of about 10 Canadian cents a share the following year" he added.


The diamonds company's Karowe mine in Botswana is living up to its reputation in yielding high quality gems. Lucara has hauled in about $130 million from the sale of just three stones “Lesedi La Rona,” a 373 carat  chunk of it that broke off during mining for $17.5 million and "The Constellation."  813 carat - $63 million, bought by the Dubai based Nemesis last year. What the corporation realized from these three stones alone has surpassed its investment to build the Karowe mine in Botswana, Southern Africa.

"The Light of Letseng" Bought by Graff in 2008

William Lamb Chief Executive officer of the Canadian company heaved a sigh of relief. "Everyone seems to have forgotten about the mine on a day to day basis. Its taken a huge amount of time away from management" He said


Lesedi La Rona "Our Light" in the Tswana language was found on 16 November 2015. The third largest diamond ever to be found was found in Lucara's mine in Karowe, Botswana.


The biggest diamond ever discovered remains the 3,106 - carat (621g) "The Cullinan". It was found near the little town of Cullinan east of Pretoria, South Africa in 1905. It was cut to form the "Great Star of Africa" and the "Lesser Star of Africa", which are components of the royal Crown Jewels of Britain.

Our Tags: Lesedi La Corona, The Constellation, The light of Letseng, The Cullinan, Sotheby, Graff, Lacura, Diamond