Telegraph: the world’s largest rough diamond sold for $53 million
Gemstone Lesedi la Rona purchased from the canadian mining company Lucara Diamond Corporation.
MOSCOW, September 26. /TASS/. British magnate Laurence Graff bought the world’s largest rough diamond Lesedi la Rona (“Our light”) for $53 million from canadian mining company Lucara Diamond Corporation. It is reported on Tuesday the newspaper The Daily Telegraph.
“Our team of highly skilled craftsmen uses years of experience with the most valuable diamonds and will work day and night to ensure a decent future for this gift of mother nature,” said the head of Graff Diamonds International .
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The newspaper notes that the colorless diamond weighing carat 1109 discovered in 2015 at the Karowe mine in Botswana, spent a year looking for a buyer. In June 2016, the canadian company put it up for auction Sotheby’s auction house with a minimum redemption price of $70 million, but the bidding was stopped at $61 million, And although the gemstone is not exposed, according to the head of Lucara Diamond Corporation William Lemba, the interest in it faded. He previously stated that he received “three proposals a week”, but prefer to wait to “find the right buyer”.
According to the publication, one of the arguments in favor of Graff could be the rich history of his company and its focus on the trade of large precious stones. In addition, in may, he bought a rough diamond with a mass of 373 carats for $17.5 million, which, presumably, is a fragment of the Lesedi la Rona, which could also play in his favor in the selection of buyers.