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Biggest diamond in more than a century sells for $53m

Vancouver-based sold the smaller 813-carat The Constellation diamond to Dubai-based rough-diamond trading company

By Bloomberg
The 1109-carat rough Lesedi La Rona diamond, the biggest rough diamond discovered in more than a century, sits in a display case at Sotheby's in New York City. The diamond, which is nearly the size of a tennis ball at 66.4 x 55 x 42mm and is believed to be about 2.5 billion to 3 billion years old, was named 'Our Light' in the local Tswana
The 1109-carat rough Lesedi La Rona diamond, the biggest rough diamond discovered in more than a century, sits in a display case at Sotheby's in New York City. The diamond, which is nearly the size of a tennis ball at 66.4 x 55 x 42mm and is believed to be about 2.5 billion to 3 billion years old, was named 'Our Light' in the local Tswana

Lucara Diamond finally sold the biggest diamond found in more than a century.

The 1,109-carat Lesedi La Rona diamond was sold for $53 million, or $47,777 a carat, to Graff Diamonds, Lucara said Monday in a statement.

The Lesedi La Rona, or “our light” in the Tswana language spoken in Botswana, went unsold at a Sotheby’s auction in London last year. It had been expected to sell for about $86 million.

The Vancouver-based company, known for producing some of the world’s biggest and best stones, unearthed the diamond at its Karowe mine in Botswana.

In May 2016, Lucara sold the smaller 813-carat The Constellation diamond for a record $63 million, or about $77,500 a carat, to Dubai-based rough-diamond trading company Nemesis International DMCC.

The statement was released after the close of regular trading in Toronto, where Lucara fell 1.7 percent to C$2.30. The shares have declined 24 percent this year.

The Lesedi La Rona, just smaller than a tennis ball, is second in size only to the Cullinan, a 3,106-carat gem found in South Africa in 1905. The Cullinan was cut to form the Great Star of Africa and the Lesser Star of Africa, which are set in the Crown Jewels of Britain.

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