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BRITISH JEWELER REVEALS THE 302.37-CARAT GRAFF LESEDI LA RONA

After 18 months of planning, cutting and polishing, Graff, the London-headquartered  multinational jewelry company, has unveiled the 302.37-carat Graff Lesedi La Rona, which the firm has described the largest square emerald-cut diamond in the world, and the biggest high-color, high-clarity diamond ever graded by the Gemological Institute of America (GIA). Graff has declined to reveal its asking price.

The stone was cut from the 1,109-carat Lesedi La Rona rough diamond. Found at Lucara’s Karowe mine in Botswana, it was the largest gem quality rough specimen discovered in more than 100 years and was the second largest diamond ever found in recorded history.  Graff Diamonds paid $53 million for the rough diamond in 2017, which is equal to about $47,777 per carat.

It was not the only stone to emerge from the tennis ball-sized Lesedi La Rona. Earlier this year, Graff unveiled 30 are stones, among them an 11.12-carat D-flawless oval-cut stone and a 6.06-carat D flawless cushion cut gem. 

All in all, the Lesedi La Rona will produce about 67 polished diamonds. All will be D-color and of exceptional clarity, the company has said. Each will be laser inscribed on its girdle with the words “GRAFF” and “LESEDI LA RONA,” and also have a a unique GIA number, authenticating its origin.

 

DESPITE INITIAL DOUBT, 300-CARAT PLUS STONE PRODUCED

Laurence Graff, the company’s principle, had been confident that the 1,109-carat rough stone would result in a set of sensational gems, particularly following his acquisition of 373-carat rough diamond from Lucara in 2016, which it is believed had been broke off over the millennia from the larger stone. Familiar with the properties that rough diamond, Graff felt they would be to predict how the Lesedi La Rona might behave.

But, initial analysis of the giant stone concluded that a 300-carat diamond wasn’t possible. However, with the experts he gathered to transform the rough stone, Graff was convinced that this exceptionally rare weight could be achieved. 

“My love affair with diamonds is life-long and crafting the Graff Lesedi La Rona has been an honor,” said. “This diamond is beyond words. We had an immense duty to cut the very, very best diamond imaginable from this rough. All our expertise, skill and accomplishment went into crafting this incredible diamond masterpiece, which is extraordinary in every way.” He stated.

But even with their experience, the Lesedi La Rona presented a unique challenge to Graff’s expert gemmologists. The had never analyzed a stone of such a prodigious size. A scanner had to be custom built, with brand new imaging software capable of probing its vast expanses.

 

THE WORLD MOST EMINENT GIANT DIAMOND SPECIALIST

There is arguably no jeweler or diamond dealers in existence with Graff’s wealth of experience in dealing with massive and valuable gemstones. In 1987 purchased the Windsor Yellows, a pair of clips of fancy yellow pear-shaped diamonds of 51.01 carats and 40.22 carats, during an auction of the jewels belonging to Wallis Simpson, Duchess of Windsor in Geneva. The duchess, who was the American divorcee that married Britain’s King Edward VIII, causing a constitutional crisis that him to abdicate the throne in 1936,  was often photographed wearing the Windsor Yellows. 

The 302.37-carat Graff Lesedi La Rona, which its owner has described the largest square emerald-cut diamond in the world.

The 1,109-carat rough stone from which the Graff Lesedi La Rona was cut. 

Master diamond trader and Manufacturer Laurence Graff. 

Graff purchased the Paragon diamond in 1989. It is is a seven-sided diamond of 137.82 carats.

In 2006 he acquired the Lesotho Promise, a 603-carat rough stone for $12.4 million. It yielded 26 D-flawless diamonds totaling 223.35 carats, with the largest being a 75-carat pear-shaped stone.

In 2008, Graff bought the 493-carat Letseng Legacy, which had been mined at the same diamond as the Lesotho Promise. It yielded 20 diamonds totaling 231.carats.

Also in 2008, he purchased the Wittelsbach-Graff Diamond, a 31.06-carat fancy deep-blue diamond with internally flawless clarity.

Other stones purchased by Graff include the Delaire Sunrise, which at 118.08 carats is the largest square emerald cut fancy vivid yellow diamond in the world, and the 102.79-carat Constellation the largest round shaped, D-color, internally flawless diamond ever to be graded by the GIA.

Possibly the most famous stone bought by the British jeweler was the Graff Pink, a rare 24.78 carat pink diamond, once owned by Harry Winston. Set in a ring, it was sold by Sotheby’s in Geneva, Switzerland on November 16, 2010 for $46 million, becoming the most expensive single jewel ever sold at auction at that time.

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