Images: Graff
Graff revealed the polished pink diamond polished from the 13.33 carat rough diamond purchased from Gem Diamonds in March.
The jeweller set the 5.63 carat pear-shaped stone, a purple pink fancy-vivid, in a pink gold ring. Two pear-shaped shoulders, also cut from the same rough stone, flank the central diamond.
Gem Diamonds extracted this rough diamond – the largest pink it has dug up since 2011 – from the Letšeng mine in Lesotho in February.
The legendary diamond dealer Graff paid $8.75 million for the 13.33 ct. Lesotho Pink Graff, making it the most expensive diamond per carat to come out of the famous mine.
The incredible rare 13.33-carat pink diamond was mined in February at the Letšeng mine in Lesotho, Africa, by the miner Gem Diamonds. The Letšeng mine is famous for its high yield of high value and large rough diamonds. Other known diamonds from this mine are the 910-carat Lesotho Legend, the fifth largest white diamond in the world, and the 550-carat Letšeng Star, the second largest white diamond extracted from the mine.
While Letšeng diamonds consistently reach the highest per carat price of all rough diamonds in the world, Graff set a new record with the purchase of the 13.33-carat pink diamond. The stone, which has since been named Graff Lesotho Pink, was purchased by Graff for $8.75 million (6.65 million pounds), making it the most expensive diamond – in dollars per carat – ever produced in the mine.
“It is the most vibrant pink rough diamond I have ever seen, and it is an exceptionally rare treasure,” said Mr. Graff after the purchase. “We are known for cutting exceptional diamonds, and I am sure that the polished diamond that comes from this rough diamond will be a beneficial addition to our range of famous gems. It is a great privilege to own this natural wonder. We may never see anything like this again.”
Letšeng: an oasis of large Graff diamonds
In 2006, the Lesotho Promise of 603 carats from Lesotho came to the surface. It was purchased by Graff for $12.4 million and converted into 26 internally flawless diamonds of color D of different shapes, the largest of which was a 76 carat pear. All this to make one necklace.
Graff put a 132-carat yellow diamond known as The Golden Empress in a necklace adorned with 30 other yellow diamonds in cushion-cut. The Golden Empress diamond was extracted from a 299 carat rough diamond. It is a rough diamond that was discovered in Letšeng in 2014 and has also produced eight other yellow diamonds.
Letšeng Destiny was a 314 carat rough diamond mined in 2015. The following year, it produced a 105-carat pear-shaped D color diamond, the Graff Vendôme, which is the largest cut diamond of its kind in Graff’s history. Twelve other smaller D color diamonds were also cut from the rough diamond, bringing the total weight of Letšeng Destiny’s cut diamonds to 164 carats.
Later that same year, in 2015, the 375-carat Letšeng Dynasty rough diamond was uncovered. Graff bought the diamond for $19.3 million. In total, this large rough diamond produced 23 polished diamonds, but the star of the collection was Venus, a 118-carat heart-shaped D diamond, without any flaws. It was the largest diamond of its kind in the world.
