Turns out the largest diamond discovered in over a century may not be worth that much after all.
The tennis ball-sized “Lesedi la Rona” failed to find a buyer on Tuesday, a disappointing result for a stone that had been described as “the find of a lifetime” by David Bennett, the chairman of Sotheby’s jewellery division.
The diamond was unearthed in November in Botswana at a mine owned by Canada’s Lucara Diamond Corporation. It measured 1,109 carats, the second-largest gem-quality rough diamond ever discovered. Its name means “our light” in the Tswana language.
A spokeswoman said bidding reached $61m – below the $70m minimum Sotheby’s had hoped for.
No rough diamond of this size had ever been auctioned, and after Wednesday’s sale it is unclear if one will for a while, Guardian reported.
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