Photo by Donald Bowers/Getty Images for Sotheby’s

In the fall of 2015, a 1,109 carat white diamond was found in the Lucara mine in South Africa. The diamond is called the Lesedi La Rona, which means “Our Light” in Setswana. They tried to sell it at a Sotheby’s auction last year (July 2016), and we even wrote about it on Show Me Rockhounds, but no bidder met the reserve. Now, it has finally sold.

On September 26, 2017, Graff Diamonds announced that they bought the Lesedi La Rona for $53 million in a private sale. The CEO of Lucara says $53 million is higher than the highest bid they got at the auction last year, but he wishes he could have got a higher price. (Don’t we all!)

What will they do with it? Lawrence Graff, the founder of Graff Diamonds, says, “The stone will tell us its story, it will dictate how it wants to be cut, and we will take the utmost care to respect its exceptional properties. … I am privileged to be given the opportunity to honor the magnificent natural beauty of the Lesedi La Rona.”

https://www.cnbc.com/2017/09/26/large-diamond-the-lesedi-la-rona-sells-for-53-million.html