Graff Diamonds has revealed that it acquired the 373.72-carat rough fragment that fell off the Lesedi La Rona diamond — and says it has the potential to yield a “significant polished stone.”
Lucara Diamond Corp. sold the rough diamond at its exceptional-stone tender last week for $17.5 million, or $46,935 per carat, without disclosing the buyer’s identity. But in a statement Monday, Graff announced that it had purchased the diamond.
“This impressive rough diamond of exceptional transparency and quality is said to be over three billion years old and was probably formed when the earth was still being created,” it added. “It will now follow its destiny under the careful watch of Mr. Laurence Graff and his team of gemologists and master cutters.”
The stone was initially part of the second-largest diamond in history, but the rough — which originally weighed about 1,500 carats — broke in two during the recovery process in November 2015. The larger piece, at 1,109 carats, failed to sell at a Sotheby’s auction last June and is still in Lucara’s inventory.
