Top 12 Largest Diamonds in the World
Have you ever been curious about the world's largest and most well-known rough diamonds?
You may not have heard about the largest diamonds unearthed recently, all worth millions and millions of dollars. However, you have undoubtedly heard of legendary stones like the Cullinan Diamond in the British Crown Jewels.
Diamonds are among the world's most valuable and coveted commodities. So it's no secret that the appearance of large diamonds has fascinated the public and the diamond industry.
Several newly discovered biggest diamonds are of such high grade that they may soon be on the list of the most expensive diamonds in the world.
Below are the twelve largest diamonds in the world ever found, ranging from an "extra-terrestrial" stone to one unearthed by a young girl in a trash heap.
What are the Largest Diamonds in the World?
- The largest diamond till now is Sergio: 3,167 Carats
- The Cullinan diamond, 3,106 Carats, is in second place.
- 1,758 Carat Rough, Botswana, Karowe is at three
- The fourth-ranked diamond, the 1,111 Carat Lesedi La Rona
- Discovery of 1,098 Carats Diamond and returned to Debswana in the fifth
- At Sixth place, Excelsior; 995 Carats
- 969 Carats; Sierra Leone Star is at number seven
- The Lesotho Legend: 910 Carats is at number eight
- Incomparable; 890 Carats is at nine.
- At number 10 is 813 Carat; Constellation
- Koh-i-Noor is at number 11; 793 Carats.
- 777 Carat weight; Millennium Star is at number twelve.
12. 777 Carats; Millennium Star
The 12th Largest Diamond in the World
They discovered Millennium Star in 1990 in the Mbuji-Mayi mine in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the 12th largest diamond in the world.
After that, De Beers purchased the rough diamond, and Steinmetz Group delivered it to them so they could fashion it into a pear-shaped diamond weighing 203.04 carats and being D-flawless.
Moreover, cutting the 12th largest diamond in the world took three years; a total of 118 blue diamonds in eleven smaller pear-shaped diamonds and a heart-shaped, fancy vivid blue diamond weighing 27.64 carats alongside the enormous pear-shaped diamond.
11. 793 Carats; Koh-I-Noor
One of the most infamous diamonds in history. In the Kollur Mine in India, sometime around the 13th century, they discovered the Koh-i-Noor diamond.
For a long time, the Koh-i-Noor diamond, one of the biggest diamonds, remained in possession of the Kakatiya dynasty, which ruled the region. Sikh, Mughal, and Persian kings vied for diamond control.
In the meantime, Queen Victoria was finally able to obtain the diamond in 1849, following the conclusion of the Second Anglo-Sikh War, which was fought between the Sikh Empire and the British East India Company.
When the East India Company won, they gave the British Empire one of the biggest diamonds. An oval-shaped diamond weighing 186 carats resulted from Prince Albert's insistence on its cutting in 1852. The United Kingdom still considered this diamond a crown jewel.
10. 813 Carat; Constellation
They discovered the 813-carat diamond in 2015 in the Karowe Mine in Botswana. Lucara Diamond Corp. was the company that mined one of the biggest diamonds and kept it in their possession at first.
Before finally coming into the custody of De Beers, the diamond passed through the hands of many different parties. De Beers eventually sold one of the biggest diamonds in the world to the Zale Corporation.
The Dubai company Nemesis International DMCC paid a then-record $63.1 million, or $77,649 per carat, to acquire this largest diamond in a highly publicised sale in 2016. Plans to rework the diamond are in the works for the corporation.
9. Incomparable; 890 Carats
It is Truly Exceptional
In the Democratic Republic of Congo, a young girl found one of the world's largest diamonds while playing in a mound of debris in 1989. A team of professionals spent four years analysing the stone before deciding to cut a smaller, perfect diamond rather than keeping the largest diamond size but with more inclusions.
Hey discovered an internally perfect diamond of 407.78 carats with a fancy deep brownish yellow colour. Its value of $55 million set a new Guinness World Record at that moment.
8. Approximately 910 carats; The Lesotho Legend
Reena Ahluwalia got one of the world's largest diamonds, known as the Lesotho Legend, which has a weight of 910 carats and is a type IIa with a colour of D. In 2018, it was at the Letang mine, and Gem Diamonds Ltd. bought it for $40 million after they discovered it.
They converted the Lesotho Legend, one of the world's biggest diamonds, into Van Cleef & Arpels' 25 Mystery Set Jewels series in 2022. They extracted sixty-seven individual diamonds from the original stone. Van Cleef & Arpels provided the accompanying image.
In 2018, the rough diamond, the Lesotho Legend, sold for $40 million. Van Cleef & Arpels will expertly polish this historic diamond, the eighth biggest diamond in the world, into the 25 Mystery Set Jewels series in 2022. They extracted sixty-seven individual diamonds from the original stone.
7. Sierra Leone Star; 969 Carats
Seventh in the World
The Diminco mine in Sierra Leone yielded the world's seventh largest diamond in 1972. Jeweler Harry Winston paid around $2.5 million to gain the rough diamond, which he then cut into an emerald shape with a carat weight of 143.
As a result of the discovered imperfection, the seventh biggest diamond in the world was re-cut into 17 pieces, the largest of which is a 53.96 pear-shaped diamond.
6. The 995 Carat Excelsior Diamond
Before the discovery of Cullinan, the Excelsior diamond held the record for the largest diamond ever found. Then, in 1893, a worker in South Africa's Jagersontein mine discovered the stone. After that, finding a buyer became challenging because of the largest diamond's size and flawlessness.
After much deliberation, they transferred the diamond to Amsterdam's I. J. Asscher in 1904, who expertly divided it into ten pieces. A pear-shaped gem measuring 69.69 carats is the largest stone.
5. Rough Diamond of 1,098 carats and returned to Debswana
Yet, it has no name
Jwaneng is the world's biggest diamond mine, but no one knows what to call the gigantic stone mined there on June 1. Finally, on June 1, 2021, they unearthed a rough diamond weighing 1098 carats from the south kimberlite pipe at the Jwaneng mine. Debswana Diamond Corporation logo.
President of Botswana Mokgweetsi Masisi examines the 1098-carat diamond owned by Debswana.
Debswana Diamond, a partnership between De Beers and the government of Botswana, discovered a 1,098-carat stone, the largest diamond ever found by the business. As of June 2021, they discovered one of only four stones larger than 1,000 carats.
4. 1,111 Carat Lesedi La Rona
In Botswana's Karowe Mine in 2015, they discovered the Lesedi La Rona, one of the largest diamonds ever found.
Sotheby auctioned this huge rough diamond in June 2016 without a successful sale. They will probably sell it in a private transaction. It is now the fourth largest diamond in the world.
3. 1,758-carat diamond (Lucara Diamond Company's Karowe Diamond Mine)
No name yet
In Brazil in 1895, they discovered the 3,167-carat opaque Carbonado do Sergio, making it the largest diamond ever found if one includes opaque and industrial quality diamonds.
This means that its value is significantly lower than that of a similarly sized raw diamond of gem quality. The quality of the world's third largest diamond is paramount. Big, flawless diamonds can fetch tens of thousands of dollars per carat.
The market price of industrial diamonds could be as low as one dollar per carat. We won't know where exactly on that spectrum this diamond sits until it's sold. This 1,758-carat rough diamond, the third biggest diamond in the world, still belongs to Lucara.
Despite being worth less than the other diamonds on this list, the 1,758-carat Karowe gem is notable for another reason: they use these biggest diamonds of its type to crush during the rough processing stage.
Tomra Sorting Solutions' X-ray transmission sorting system is what Lucara uses now to separate these biggest diamonds of any colour or clarity, even the extremely rare type II diamonds.
2. Cullinan Diamond, 3,106 Carats
The Diamond that is the Second Largest One Ever
Soon after its discovery in 1905 by Sir Thomas Cullinan in the Premier Mine in South Africa, King Edward VII took the Cullinan Diamond as a present. The discovery took place in South Africa.
They divided the world's second largest diamond into nine major stones and 96 little ones, with the Cullinan I, measuring 530.4 carats and also known as the Great Star of Africa, being the largest diamond of these nine significant stones and 96 minor ones.
The Cullinan I serve as the centrepiece of the Sovereign's Sceptre with Cross, an essential component of the British Crown Jewels.
1. Sergio; 3,167 Carats
Still the Largest Diamond Ever in the World
Sergio, the world's largest diamond, tops the list of the top 12 largest diamonds in the world. In Bahia, Brazil, in 1895, they discovered the world's largest rough diamond, a black carbonado diamond.
Carbonados, the hardest and rarest diamond, is also the most valuable. In their pure state, they typically look like carbon. Sergio, the world's biggest diamond, was brought to Earth 2.3 billion years ago, with some researchers speculating that it is a fragment of a supernova that took place approximately 3.8 billion years ago.
Learn more about rare gems and famous diamonds by reading through our ranking of the world's top 12 most costly pieces of jewellery.
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