The historic rough will be offered in a stand-alone auction in London on 29 June 2016, estimated to sell for in excess of $70 million. The 1109-carat “Lesedi la Rona, which is the largest gem-quality rough diamond to be discovered in over a century and the largest rough diamond in existence today will be auctioned in a stand-alone sale in London.
The Lesedi la Rona (“Our Light” in Setswana language) was uncovered by Lucara Diamond Corp. in November 2015, at their Karowe mine in Botswana. Around the size of a tennis ball, measuring approximately 66.4 x 55 x 42 mm, this colossal rough diamond of exceptional transparency and quality is around 2.5 to over 3 billion years old.
Diamonds have been mined continuously for centuries in multiple locations around the world and yet nothing of the size and quality of Lesedi La Rona has been found in over 100 years. The Lesedi la Rona will be on view at Sotheby’s New York on 7 May, and at Sotheby’s London from 18 until 28 June, ahead of its auction in the evening of 29 June.
