White Diamond

A 196-carat white diamond recovered from the Letseng mine in Lesotho. Price Offers for the stone, sold as a rough diamond, could come in at between $7.8 million and $11.8 million (up to £7.7 million), Alison Turner, a London-based analyst at Panmure

If diamonds are a girl’s best friend, then most women’s eyes will be sparkling at the prospect of this latest find.

Stretching a dazzling 3cms in width, this 196-carat rough white stone will fetch a ‘substantial’ price when it is sold by Gem Diamonds.

The magnificent rock was found at the company’s mine in Lesotho, a small kingdom in South Africa, and is expected to produce top colour and clarity polished diamonds.

This remarkable rough diamond is expected to achieve a substantial price per carat as preliminary examinations indicate that it is expected to produce top colour and top clarity polished diamonds,' the company said in a statement.

London-listed miner Gem has found three of the world’s 20 largest diamonds since it acquired the mine in 2006 including the 603-carat Lesotho Promise, which sold for $12.4million (£8m).

The Lesotho government owns a 30 per cent stake in the mine.

The find comes a year after fellow Southern Africa diamond miner Petra unearthed a 507-carat stone near Johannesburg.

The Cullinan Heritage, the 19th largest diamond ever found, was sold to a Hong Kong jeweller in February for $35.3m (£22.9m).

The find is still dwarfed by the Cullinan Diamond which was discovered in 1905.

At 3,106 carats it was the largest gem-quality rough diamond ever found but the biggest polished stone produced from it, the Great Star of Africa - 530 carats - is a teardrop shape.

The Koh-i-Noor diamond, which is part of the Crown Jewels, dates back to 1306.

The gem is a round cut but at 105 carats, it originated in India but was seized by Britain as a spoil of war in 1849.

It supposedly brings good luck to female owners and misfortune or death to any male who wears or owns it.



Source : Diamonds