Graff Diamonds has acquired the 1,109-carat Lesedi La Rona rough diamond in a deal valued at $53 million. It is the world’s largest gem-quality rough diamond to be discovered in more than a century and the largest rough diamond in existence today.
It also may be one of Laurence Graff’s greatest deals in a long career of exceptional negotiations for some of the world’s most valuable and important diamonds. He may have shaved $17 million from its original asking price.
According to a statement from Graff Diamonds, this deal ended in a handshake with William Lamb, CEO, president and director of Canadian mining company Lucara Diamond Corp., which discovered the gem at its Karowe mine in Botswana in November 2015.
Lamb originally tried to sell the diamond in a standalone public auction at Sotheby’s London on June 2016, a very unusual way to sell a rough diamond, which is normally sold privately to dealers who then cut and polished the rough into a finished gem. It had an estimate of more than $70 million. However, it failed to meet its reserve price. The bidding stalled at $61 million.
In the end there are very few people in the world able to buy such a gem and even fewer with the ability to cut it. The top name on both lists is Graff.
“We are thrilled and honored to become the new custodians of this incredible diamond,” Laurence Graff said 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. This is a momentous day in my career, and I am privileged to be given the opportunity to honor the magnificent natural beauty of the Lesedi La Rona.”
The Lesedi La Rona was discovered at the Lucara Karowe mine in north-central Botswana. Its size is exceeded only by the legendary Cullinan Diamond, mined in South Africa in 1905. The 3,016.75-carat diamond produced nine major diamonds that are part of the historic Crown Jewels of the United Kingdom, including the Great Star of Africa—considered to be the largest top-quality polished diamond in existence, weighing 530.20 carats.
In addition to its size, the Gemological Institute of America reports that the Lesedi La Rona , which means “our light” in Botswana's Tswana language, possesses exceptional quality and transparency, according to Graff Diamonds statement.
The acquisition follows Graff’s purchase earlier this year of a 373-carat rough diamond that was originally part of the Lesedi La Rona rough, marking a reunion of the two stones.
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