World's second largest diamond, size of a tennis ball, sold for Rs 348 crore

Moneycontrol News

The British jeweller Laurence Graff has acquired “the world’s most valuable rough diamond”— Lesedi La Rona—after a year of negotiations with Canadian miner Lucara Diamond.

The tennis ball sized diamond is second largest in the world and weighs 1,109-carats. Lucara was struggling to sell it and put up a reserve price of USD 70 million. However, buyers found it overpriced and the last year's auction failed to achieve this price with the highest bid going USD 61 million.

So, how much did Laurence Graff pay for the diamond? The answer is USD 53 million (around Rs 348 crore).

“We are thrilled and honoured to become the new custodians of this incredible diamond. Our highly skilled team of master craftsmen will draw on many years of experience of crafting the most important diamonds, working night and day to ensure that we do justice to this remarkable gift from Mother Nature,” said Graff in a statement.

“The stone will tell us its story, it will dictate how it wants to be cut, and we will take the utmost care to respect its exceptional properties.”

Via @Sothebys #Instagram: The beautiful #LesediLaRona diamond $LUC pic.twitter.com/rtQoZO1z16

— Lucara Diamond Corp (@LucaraDiamond) May 4, 2016

Earlier in August, Graff bought 373.72-carat rough diamond which was earlier a part of Lesedi La Rona. It was separated during the recovery process at the mine. The diamonds are from the Karowe mine in Botswana. “The acquisition follows Graff’s purchase earlier this year of a remarkable 373-carat rough diamond that was originally part of the Lesedi La Rona rough, making this poignant reunion for the two stones,” the statement added.

The Lesedi La Rona diamond was recovered two years ago and it means "our light" in the local Tswana language. The diamond is the largest gem-quality rough diamond recovered in last century. The largest ever diamond mined is the legendary 3,107-carat Cullinan Diamond that was dug up in 1905 in South Africa.