It’s an exciting year for gemstone enthusiasts as the second largest rough gem quality diamond ever found was revealed last month (August 2024) in Botswana.
The enormous rough weighs 2,492ct making it the second largest gem quality diamond to be discovered behind the famous Cullinan which weighed 3,106ct.
The diamond was found at the Karowe mine which is owned by Canadian company Lucara Diamond. The Karowe mine is one of the world’s biggest producers of large, high quality diamonds.
The diamond was found by Lucara’s Mega Diamond Recovery (“MDR”) X-ray Transmission (“XRT”) technology, which was introduced in 2017 and is used to detect and preserve large, high-value diamonds with minimal damage during the removal.
The last big discovery in Botswana was a 1,758-carat rough also from the Karowe mine in 2019.
Historic Diamonds
The Cullinan
As we mentioned above the Cullinan diamond is the largest gem quality diamond ever found. Discovered in 1905 in South Africa, the Cullinan diamond is named after Thomas Cullinan who owned the mine where it was found.
The Cullinan was split into 9 major stones, the first initial split of the rough was carried out by Joseph Asscher. After weeks of planning, Mr. Asscher supposedly fainted after making the split due to the immense pressure of the task (This story is also discussed in our previous blog: The History of Diamonds).
The Hope Diamond
The Hope diamond is the largest natural blue diamond ever found weighing 45.52ct and is currently on display in the Smithsonian Institute, Washington.
Found in the 17th century in India, the Hope diamond has an extensive history with being bought and sold around the world, being part of two crown jewels and even going missing. This awe-inspiring piece is now being displayed in America!
The Lesedi La Rona
In 2017 high-end British jeweller Graff purchased what is now known as The Lesedi La Rona for $53 million.
The rough gem quality diamond weighed 1,109ct making it the fifth largest ever diamond found.
The rough was cut into 67 stones, the most notable being the Graff Lesedi La Rona a 302.37ct square emerald cut diamond. This stone is also the largest, highest-grade colour and highest-grade clarity diamond ever graded by GIA (Gemological Institute of America).
Each diamond from the rough has been laser engraved on the girdle with “Graff, Lesedi La Rona” forever documenting the iconic history of the diamond. The other 66 diamonds range in size from under 1ct to 26ct in varying shapes.
It is hard to predict whether more record-breaking diamonds will ever be found, what we do know is the impact of these historic treasures will last for generations to come.