Sewelô

The Sewelô diamond is the third-largest rough diamond ever found. The diamond was recovered in April 2019 by the Lucara Diamond Corp in its Karowe diamond mine in Botswana. The diamond is 1,758 carats and weighs 352 grams or 12.39 oz.[1]

The Sewelô is the largest diamond in Botswana’s history, surpassing the 1,111 carats (222 g, 7.83 oz.) Lesedi La Rona extracted at the same mine on 16 November 2015. The Lesedi La Rona was the fourth-largest diamond ever found, and the third-largest of gem quality.

The gem was named through a competition held by Lucara. Out of 22,000 submissions the name Sewelô was chosen, which translates 'rare find' in Setswana.[2] In January 2020 it was announced that Louis Vuitton had purchased the diamond for an undisclosed sum.[3][4] Louis Vuitton will work with the HB Company in Antwerp to polish the diamond and cut it into smaller stones.[5][6][7]

The stone is covered with a thin layer of opaque black carbon and its surface is pitted. It is the size of a tennis ball but weighs six times more.[6][7][8] Because of its skin opacity, the core of the stone remains a mystery and no one knows if it can be successfully cut into smaller stones. The risk involved with the cutting has led HB Company to apply novel mapping methods using artificial intelligence in order to optimise the design and to maximize the chance of success.[9]

See also

References
  1. "Lucara finds largest uncut diamond in recent history in Botswana mine". Reuters. 25 April 2019. Retrieved 17 January 2020.
  2. Contributor, Guest (19 July 2019). "Lucara announces the naming of the 1,758 carat Sewelô Diamond". Miningreview.com. Retrieved 17 January 2020.
  3. Friedman, Vanessa (15 January 2020). "The second-biggest diamond in history has a new owner". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 17 January 2020.
  4. "Second-biggest diamond ever will become Louis Vuitton Jewelry". www.bloomberg.com. Retrieved 17 January 2020.
  5. "The second-biggest diamond in the world was just purchased by Louis Vuitton". The Independent. 16 January 2020. Retrieved 17 January 2020.
  6. "HB Company: The Antwerp manufacturer tasked to cut Sewelô diamond for Louis Vuitton". The Diamond Loupe. Retrieved 18 July 2020.
  7. Hope, Alan (22 January 2020). "Antwerp company will work on world's second-largest diamond". The Brussels Times. Retrieved 18 July 2020.
  8. "Diamond as big as a tennis ball makes Louis Vuitton debut in Paris". the Guardian. 21 January 2020. Retrieved 18 July 2020.
  9. The Diamond Loupe (23 January 2020). "HB Company: The Antwerp Manufacturer Tasked to Cut Sewelô Diamond for Louis Vuitton".
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