Diamond miner Lucara Diamond has entered into a collaboration with famous luxury house Louis Vuitton and diamond manufacturer HB Company to manufacture its historic 1 758 ct Sewelô diamond that was recovered from Lucara’s Karowe diamond mine, in Botswana, in April last year.
The purpose of the collaboration is the planning, cutting and polishing of a collection of diamonds from Sewelô.
Sewelô, which means "rare find" in Setswana, is the second diamond weighing more than 1 000 ct to be recovered from Karowe in four years and is the largest ever recovered in Botswana, Lucara said in a statement on Thursday.
The diamond has been characterised as near gem of variable quality, with recent analysis confirming that it also includes domains of higher-quality white gem.
Lucara believes the full potential of this special diamond will only be revealed once polished.
Lucara will receive an upfront non-material payment for the Sewelô diamond and retain a 50% interest in the individual polished diamonds that result.
Further, 5% of all of the retail sales proceeds generated from this historic collection will be invested directly back into Botswana on community-based initiatives undertaken by Lucara.
Commenting on the news, CEO Eira Thomas said the collaboration “commemorates this extraordinary discovery and contributes direct benefits to our local communities of interest in Botswana".