Size isn’t everything in the diamond market, especially for the biggest gem found in more than a century and which took more than a year to sell.
Lucara Diamond Corp. finally sold the 1,109-carat Lesedi La Rona diamond for $53 million, or $47,777 a carat, on Monday to Graff Diamonds, Vancouver-based Lucara said in a statement. While it’s significantly bigger than the 813-carat Constellation stone Lucara found at the same time, that stone sold for a record $63 million, or about $77,500 a carat.
The fate of the Lesedi, taken from the Karowe mine in Bot- swana, is a good example of how size isn’t the most important factor in the the diamond industry. The gem is more difficult to cut and the color isn’t as good as the Constellation, meaning it probably won’t yield as good a polished stone. BMO Capital Markets had forecast that the diamond, which went unsold at a Sotheby’s auction in London last year, could sell for $75 million.
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