A rough stone as big as a tennis ball, the Sewelo diamond is the second largest diamond in the world, after the Cullinan diamond, which weighs 3016 carats and was discovered in 1905 in South Africa. The Sewelo diamond weighs 1758 carats, or 350 grams. Nine months after its discovery, it was bought this month by LVMH, the parent company of Louis Vuitton, in a clear stride towards establishing itself in the high jewellery industry. The value it was sold for has not yet been revealed, but is estimated to be between 6.5 and 19.5 million dollars. The diamond is currently on display in the Louis Vuitton store on Place Vendôme in Paris, and will eventually be carefully studied to determine the optimal cuts so as to yield the maximum amount and highest quality of cut diamonds possible from the 1758 carat rock.
Image credit: AFP
The Sewelo diamond was mined in Botswana last April in the Karowe mine. This is where the Lesedi La Rona, the third largest diamond in the world, was also discovered in 2015. Sewelo means "rare discovery" in the Tswana language (the language spoken in Botswana). The Sewelo diamond does not have the usual brilliance of diamonds that we know and love, since it has not yet been cut or polished, and remains mysteriously hidden under its original black carbon envelope, so it hasn’t yet revealed all its secrets. But we already know that it is out of the ordinary, although the quality of cut diamonds it may produce remains to be seen.
To learn more about the world's most expensive diamonds, go to our previous blogpost where you can find the Cullinan diamond - the largest diamond in the world. Click here to read more or go to our Diamond Collection if you love wearing high-quality white or black diamonds.