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Giant diamond doesn’t find buyer at Sotheby’s sale in London

Giant diamond doesn't find buyer at Sotheby's sale in London | iNFOnews.ca
FILE - In this Tuesday, June 14, 2016 file photo, a model poses for photographs holding up the largest gem-quality rough cut diamond discovered in over 100 years, the 1109-Carat “Lesedi La Rona” at premises of the Sotheby's auction house in London. The tennis ball-sized Lesedi la Rona failed to find a buyer Tuesday June 29, 2016, a disappointing result for a stone which had described as “the find of a lifetime” by David Bennett, chairman of Sotheby's jewelry division. AP Photo/Matt Dunham, File

LONDON – Turns out the largest diamond discovered in over a century may not be worth all that much.

The tennis ball-sized Lesedi la Rona failed to find a buyer Tuesday, a disappointing result for a stone which had described as "the find of a lifetime" by David Bennett, chairman of Sotheby's jewelry division.

The diamond was unearthed in November in Botswana at a mine owned by Canada's Lucara Diamond Corporation. It measured 1,109 carats, the second-largest gem-quality rough diamond ever discovered. Its name means "our light" in the Tswana language.

A spokeswoman said bidding reached $61 million — below the more than $70 million Sotheby's had hoped for.

No rough diamond of this size had ever been auctioned, and after Wednesday's sale it's unclear if one will for a while.

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Jennifer Stahn

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