Botswana: World’s largest uncut diamond sold to Louis Vuitton

An enormous diamond that was found in Botswana in April has been sold to luxury fashion brand Louis Vuitton for an undisclosed fee. 

The 1,758-carat stone has been named Sewelô, meaning “rare find” in the Setswana language. The stone was unearthed in the Karowe mine in Letlhakane, which is owned by the Lucara Diamond Corporation, and is reportedly the second largest found in a century. 

The Financial Times reports that Louis Vuitton’s decision to buy the diamond “signals the house’s growing ambitions in high-end jewellery”. Last year the company bought US luxury jeweller Tiffany & Co. 

New technology, including X-ray scanning, has been attributed with the recent surge in super-sized diamonds being found. In 2015 a Botswanan mine found a 1,109 carat diamond and another 812 carat gem which sold for $63.1m. 

The world’s largest diamond, the Cullinan, was found in South Africa over a hundred years ago and now forms part of Queen Elizabeth II’s crown jewels. 

Photo credit: Lucara