ANTWERP, Belgium, Oct 9 (Reuters Life!) - The biggest diamond to be found in 13 years, the "Lesotho Promise," was sold on Monday at auction for more than $12 million and is expected to fetch in excess of $20 million once it is cut up. ADVERTISEMENT The 603-carat (120 gram) diamond, named after the tiny African mountain kingdom where it was found, went under the hammer at the Antwerp Diamond Center and was sold to the South African Diamond Corporation, owner of luxury jewellers Graff. The 10th largest white diamond ever to be found, it will be cut into a large heart-shaped diamond and several smaller stones which will then be sold. The uncut diamond is a third bigger than a golf ball. Johnny Kneller from the South African Diamond Corporation said that once it was cut up, he expected to sell the stones for a third more than the auction price. "We can't say for sure but we hope it's going to fetch over $20 million," Kneller said. Diamonds have long been a status symbol and were famously serenaded as a girl's best friend by Marilyn Monroe in the 1950s film "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes." Growing affluence has boosted sales and busy shopping streets such as London's Bond Street are awash with jewellers and luxury goods stores offering right-hand diamond rings for well-heeled women. The biggest rough diamond ever found was the Cullinan at 3,106 carats, while the second largest, the Excelsior, was 995 carats. Both were found in South Africa. The Lesotho diamond was found at the Letseng Diamond Mine high in the mountains of the tiny nation which is surrounded by South Africa, by a woman who was sorting through the rocks. "She started screaming and all the staff thought she had been electrocuted," said Clifford Elphick, head of Gem Diamond Mining, which owns 70 percent of the mine. He said he was very pleased with the price that the gem had fetched. Source: Yahoo News
lol I know you'd want that!! -lol damn imagine if you jus happend to stumble across that.. i'd be like OMG!!! -shock
hmmm... yup... diamonds r only meanigful when it's giving from a guy... if i found it i'd sell it for the money -lol
wow! 12 mil!!! found a small thing like that can make one rich! i wonder when the next biggest diamond will be found
ahahahaa... you make a very tempting proposal... but would I want to venture into this business partnership with you??
i wouldn't buy that even if i had the money... i mean wth r you gonna do with something like that..gonna b hard to sell back out w/o losing a profit..if just collecting...chances of losing it will be higher cause people gonna target you....
nah that thing will go up in value.. damn jus imagine.. like hey wanna come over.. yea I just bought this big ass diamond... -lol
I mean she has to righ?? I dunno it'd be kinda shady to work diggin up diamonds and not get jack for it...
lol oh that was pretty shady.. but yea... pretty true... shit.. I'll prolly cop 10 of those McLaren SLRs instead buying that damn thing.. can't really play with a diamond...
