RAPAPORT... 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.
Graff, one of the world’s best-known luxury brands, previously
manufactured the largest heart-shaped, D-flawless diamond in the world at
118.78 carats, renaming it the “Graff Venus” when it unveiled the stone in
November. The company claims to have cut and polished more than half of the 20
largest diamonds discovered this century.
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