Gem Diamonds has recovered a 161 carat rough stone, the first over 100 carats it has reported this year.
It found the high quality, white, type IIa diamond on March 21 at its Letšeng mine in Lesotho, the company said Friday.
Last year, Gem Diamonds found 15 stones weighing more than 100 carats, a record for the company. That haul included the 910 carat Lesotho Legend, which sold for $40 million.
In February, the miner also found a 13.33 carat pink diamond, which it sold to Graff for $8.8 million, or $656,933 per carat.
Graff will present a selection of flawless polished stones from the 1,109-carat Lesedi La Rona at its new Hong Kong boutique.
“Lesedi la Rona” Diamond To Be Auctioned At Sotheby’s London
Graff purchased the D-color diamond — the second-largest rough in history — from Lucara Diamond Corp. for $53 million in September 2017. The luxury jeweler has since cut about 30 polished diamonds from the original stone, and will display them in Asia for the first time, it said last week.
Graff recently opened its new flagship store in the St. George’s Building on Chater Road, close to the luxury jeweler’s previous location. The 2,800-square-foot boutique, which Graff created together with luxury architect Peter Marino, will also have a dedicated watch area, bridal-hall houses featuring wedding jewelry, and three VIP rooms containing high jewelry.
The luxuriously designed space will include a private event hall for special celebrations and memorable moments, Graff added.
Image: The new Graff boutique, Hong Kong. (Graff Diamonds)
Named the Peace Diamond the 709 carat rough diamond is the 14th largest ever recovered.
The rough diamond has sold for $6.5 million at an auction in New York, with all proceeds going to the impoverished Sierra Leone diggers who discovered it.
Sierra Leone will now be watched closely to make sure they see the social benefits from the sale of the diamond as the government promised.
The buyer of the Rough Diamond is Laurence Graff. One of the world’s top jewellers and founder of Graff Diamonds.
Pictures of the Spectacular Fancy Yellow Diamond Polished by Graff Diamonds have been released.
Laurence Graff, the founder of the international luxury diamond and jewellery firm that bears his name, purchased the 299 ct rough diamond from the Letšeng mine in the Southern African kingdom of Lesotho.
Graff’s latest masterpiece named “The Golden Empress,” was polished into the 132.55 Cts stone an extremely rare diamond is a Fancy Intense yellow cushion cut,
The diamond is among the largest and rarest in the world. Only one in 10,000 diamonds discovered are classified as fancy colouredsuch as this yellow diamond.
