The “Lesedi La Rona,” one of the largest rough diamonds ever found in more than 100 years, will be auctioned at Sotheby’s London on June 29, 2016.
It looks like a transparent tennis ball, but it might be sold for more than $70 million. The 1,109-carat diamond has already been considered “the find of a lifetime.”
“Lesedi La Rona,” which means “our light” in the Tswana language, was mined at the Karowe mine in Botswana. The Gemological Institute of America confirmed its exceptional quality and transparency “commonly associated with Type IIa diamonds.”
The newly-discovered rough diamond can only be outshined by the “Cullinan Diamond,” a 3,106.75-carat gem unearthed at the Cullinan Mine in Pretoria, South Africa, in 1905.
The famous diamond was later cut into nine smaller stones. Eight of them are part of the Crown Jewels of Great Britain; the largest one – the “Great Star of Africa” (530.20 carats) – was set into Queen Elizabeth II’s scepter.
Will “Lesedi La Rona” dethrone the “Great Star of Africa”? Will it become the world’s largest high-quality diamond? All questions will be answered by the end of summer.
