World’s 5th largest diamond unearthed in Lesotho
A SMALL, embattled diamond miner just hit the jackpot. The 910-carat stone found by Gem Diamonds high in the mountains of Lesotho is the fifth-largest in history. Here are the bigger ones: ● The Cullinan Diamond:
By far the largest at 3 106 carats, it was found at the Premier mine in South Africa in 1905 and named after mine owner Sir Thomas Cullinan. The stone was given to King Edward VII as a birthday present and then sent to Antwerp to be cut into smaller gems.
The cutter was said to have fainted under pressure before dividing up the stone. The two biggest cuts – the Great Star of Africa and the Lesser Star of Africa – are set in the crown jewels of Britain.
● The Lesedi La Rona: Found in Botswana by Canadian miner Lucara Diamond Corp in 2015, the 1 109-carat Lesedi La Rona means “our light” in Tswana. Roughly the size of a tennis ball, the fanfare surrounding its discovery soon soured when the stone failed to make its reserve at a Sotheby’s auction.
It was eventually sold last year for $53-million (R650-million), significantly less than the smaller 813-carat Constellation found at the same time.
● Excelsior Diamond: Famed for its bluish-white colour, the 995-carat Excelsior was found by a worker shoveling gravel at the Jagersfontein mine in South Africa in 1893. Without a buyer, it was cut into at least 20 pieces. The largest of the cuts, the 70-carat Excelsior I, was bought for $2.6-million (R32-million) and now sits in a bracelet.
● The Star of Sierra Leone: The 969-carat diamond was found in Sierra Leone in 1972 and cut into 17 pieces. The largest had to be re-cut due to a flaw and the biggest totalled just 54 carats. Gem Diamond’s latest discovery: Still without a name, the stone is about the size of two golf balls. It was found at the company’s Letseng mine.
While Gem hasn’t yet said how it will sell the stone, analysts estimate it could fetch between $40-million and $50-million (R491R613-million). —