Largest uncut diamond set for auction

Media captionWorld’s largest uncut diamond to be auctioned in London

The world’s largest uncut diamond is expected to be sold for more than £52m in an unprecedented auction in London.

The Lesedi la Rona, almost the size of a tennis ball, was unearthed in Botswana in November.

The rough diamond is 1,109 carats and believed to be more than 2.5 billion years old.

The Mayfair auction, which is the first time a rough diamond of such a size has gone on public sale, takes place at Sotheby’s later.

The Lesedi la Rona, which means ‘our light’ in the Tswana language spoken in Botswana, was discovered by Lucara Diamond Corp’s Karowe mine.

David Bennett, worldwide chairman of Sotheby’s jewellery division, said the diamond’s discovery is “the find of a lifetime”.

“Every aspect of this auction is unprecedented. Not only is the rough superlative in size and quality, but no rough even remotely of this scale has ever been offered before at public auction,” he said.

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Sotheby’s

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The diamond is thought to be more than 2.5 billion years old

According to a study by the Gemological Institute of America, the rough diamond’s colour and transparency “exemplify” type IIA diamonds.

Stones in this group are “the most chemically pure and often show extraordinary optical transparency”.

IIA is the most chemically-pure type of diamond

Less than 2% of all gem diamonds are classed as IIA

They were first identified as originating from the famed Golconda region of India

Type IIA diamonds are now recovered in all major diamond producing regions

Famous examples of Type IIA diamonds are the Cullinan I and the Koh-i-Noor, both part of the British Crown Jewels.

Nothing of the size and quality of Lesedi La Rona – which measures measures 6.64 x 5.5 x 4.2cm (2.6 x 2.1 x 1.6in) – has been found in more than 100 years.

In terms of its size the rough is exceeded only by the Cullinan Diamond, mined in South Africa in 1905 and presented to King Edward VII.

The 3,106-carat diamond was cut into nine separate stones, many of which are in the British Crown Jewels, including the Great Star of Africa – currently the largest top-quality polished diamond in existence.

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Alastair Grant/Getty Images

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The Queen wears stones from the Cullinan diamond at the State Opening of Parliament in May

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