March 12, 2010
507-carat Rough Diamond
We subscribe to many jewlery industry magazines, journals and newsletters. One of my favorites is N
ational Jeweler, because they often have stories about rare and unusual gemstones and jewelry.
In February they wrote about the 507-carat Cullinan rough diamond, which was unearthed last September in South America by Petra Diamonds Ltd., a London-based mining company.
Dubbed the “Cullinan Heritage,” the diamond rough weighs exactly 507.5 carats and looks a bit like a large (oddly-shaped) chicken egg.
Petra sold the diamond to a Hong-Kong jewelry company for $35.3 million, the highest sale price ever recorded for a rough diamond. In a press release to National Jeweler, Petra said it doesn’t yet know what the buyer, Chow Tai Fook Jewellery Company Ltd., plans to do with the rough.
“According to the release, the price achieved for the Cullinan Heritage is a reflection of the incredible rarity of the diamond in terms of size as well as color and clarity,” the NJ article states. The rough sold for a little less than $70,000 per carat.
This diamond is the 19th largest piece of rough ever unearthed. The Cullinan mine has been the source of many other spectacular diamonds, including the largest gem-quality rough diamond in history. It was called the “Cullinan” and weighed an incredible 3,106 carats — imagine what that looks like in your hand!
To read the full National Jeweler article, visit http://www.nationaljewelernetwork.com/njn/content_display/diamonds/pricing/e3i7f27204a864d83e7eecfcc08d4a6dd83.
Photo from www.idexonline.com portrays Petra CEO Johan Dippenaar holding the Cullinan Heritage.
