|
This
legendary stone is the world's 15th largest rough diamond ever to be
discovered. It was unearthed on 22 August 2006
at the famous Letseng Mine in Lesotho where another famous diamond, the
“Lesotho brown”, was recovered from the same mine field in
1967.
The 603ct (121g.) gem-quality rough stone has been on the cover of almost
all magazines and newspapers worldwide. In its rough state, the Lesotho Promise diamond
had a value of $12 million. Having an unusual color,
the rare diamond has been rated as “D” which is supposed to be
the best color for rare diamonds found across the
globe.
On
4th October 2006, this diamond was being up for sale in Antwerp. During that
time the tender was being floated and the highest bidder got the ownership of
the diamond. The famous Lesotho Promise went in the hand of the South African
Diamond Corporation (SAFDICO) for US$ 12.4 million. 14 months
after being purchased this rare stone was cut in a heart shape and 26
fragments of this diamond were also being sold out totaling 224
carats.
With the help and consultancy of Diamcad, a Belgian
technology driven polishing company, Safdico has
surpassed even its own expectations of selling the diamond for more than 20
million dollars after cutting.
At first, the Lesotho Promise was studied by engineers using today's most
advanced scanning technology for a 5 month period, this to ensure that all
possible polishing solutions had been evaluated.
Each lasered piece, carefully resubmitted to
scanning as if it were a new rough stone helped recover more carats and yield
more stones. World-class craftsmen polished each and every stone to
perfection delivering an amazing 26 diamonds ranging from 75 carats to 55
points; all from the highest colour and clarity.
The entire production, a unique collection of flawless diamonds, is unrivaled
and sets a new standard by Safdico.
In July
2007 the finished stones were unveiled. The largest gem cut from the crystal
is a 75 carats (15 g)
pear-shaped diamond, and the smallest is a 0.55 carats (110 mg)
round brilliant. In all, twenty-six stones were fashioned from the rough gem,
figuring as seven pear shapes, four emerald cuts, thirteen round brilliants
and one heart shape. The finished gems total 224 carats (45 g).
The Lesotho Promise, is now set
on a 223.5-carat necklace decked with 26 white D-flawless diamonds.
It’s been tagged ‘the most important diamond necklace ever
assembled’
The
centerpiece of the necklace, the one that makes one breathless, is a
100-carat pear-shaped D-flawless diamond.
Its
price? Estimated at a ‘mere’ $50 million, some potential buyers
were turned down and some others proposed buying half the necklace but Lawrence
Graff (chairman and founder of the company) declared: “We’ll
never split the stones, we’re still waiting.”
All
famous diamonds
|
