The 302 ct Graff Lesedi La Rona diamond
Multinational jeweller Graff has cut the largest square emerald cut diamond in the world, which ranks as the largest high-colour, highest clarity diamond ever graded by the Gemological Institute of America.
Dubbed the Graff Lesedi La Rona, the diamond weighs in at 302.37 ct, and is a top D-colour. It was cut and polished from the principal 1 109 ct Lesedi La Rona rough diamond, which was recovered at the Lucara Karowe mine, in Botswana.
Graff has cut and polished 67 stones from the Lesedi La Rona diamond, which was the largest gem-quality rough diamond discovered in more than 100 years and the second largest ever found.
Graff founder Laurence Graff said the company’s expert gemmologists had never analysed a stone of such a prodigious size and a scanner had to be custom built, with brand new imaging software capable of probing its vast expanses.
It took 18 months to shape the Graff Lesedi La Rona diamond, from the initial cutting with precise lasers, followed by the shaping, faceting and polishing.