The Sewelô
diamond
Diamond is a solid form of the element carbon with its atoms arranged in a crystal structure called diamond cubic. Another solid form of carbon known as graphite is the chemically stable form of carbon at room temperature and pressure, ...
is the
third-largest rough diamond ever found. The diamond was recovered in April 2019 by the
Lucara Diamond Corp in its
Karowe diamond mine in
Botswana
Botswana (, ), officially the Republic of Botswana ( tn, Lefatshe la Botswana, label= Setswana, ), is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory being the Kalaha ...
. The diamond is 1,758
carats and weighs 352
gram
The gram (originally gramme; SI unit symbol g) is a unit of mass in the International System of Units (SI) equal to one one thousandth of a kilogram.
Originally defined as of 1795 as "the absolute weight of a volume of pure water equal to th ...
s or 12.39 oz.
At the time it was found, ''Sewelô'' was the largest diamond in Botswana's history, surpassing the 1,111 carats (222 g, 7.83 oz.)
Lesedi La Rona
Lesedi La Rona, formerly known in media as Karowe AK6 or as Quad 1 by the personnel at the mine, is the fourth-largest diamond ever found, and the third-largest of gem quality. It was found in the Karowe mine, (formerly called AK6) in Botswana ...
extracted at the same mine on 16 November 2015. The Lesedi La Rona was the fourth-largest diamond ever found, and the third-largest of gem quality.
The gem was named through a competition held by Lucara. Out of 22,000 submissions the name ''Sewelô'' was chosen, which translates 'rare find' in
Setswana. In January 2020 it was announced that
Louis Vuitton
Louis Vuitton Malletier, commonly known as Louis Vuitton (, ), is a French high-end luxury fashion house and company founded in 1854 by Louis Vuitton. The label's LV monogram appears on most of its products, ranging from luxury bags and leather ...
had purchased the diamond for an undisclosed sum. Louis Vuitton will work with
HB Antwerp to
polish the diamond and
cut it into smaller stones.
The stone is covered with a thin layer of opaque
black carbon
Chemically, black carbon (BC) is a component of fine particulate matter (PM ≤ 2.5 µm in aerodynamic diameter). Black carbon consists of pure carbon in several linked forms. It is formed through the incomplete combustion of fossil fuel ...
and its surface is pitted. It is the size of a
tennis ball
A tennis ball is a ball designed for the sport of tennis. Tennis balls are fluorescent yellow in organised competitions, but in recreational play can be virtually any color. Tennis balls are covered in a fibrous felt which modifies their aerodyna ...
but weighs six times more.
The HB Company has applied novel mapping methods using
artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence (AI) is intelligence—perceiving, synthesizing, and inferring information—demonstrated by machines, as opposed to intelligence displayed by animals and humans. Example tasks in which this is done include speech r ...
in order to optimise the design and to maximize the chance of success in cutting the diamond. The diamond has been described as a "near-gem of variable quality, including domains of high-quality white gem", an industrial diamond with sections that could produce gem-quality stones. Further analysis was in progress as of April 2021.
See also
*
Kimberlite
Kimberlite is an igneous rock and a rare variant of peridotite. It is most commonly known to be the main host matrix for diamonds. It is named after the town of Kimberley in South Africa, where the discovery of an diamond called the Star of S ...
*
Lesedi La Rona
Lesedi La Rona, formerly known in media as Karowe AK6 or as Quad 1 by the personnel at the mine, is the fourth-largest diamond ever found, and the third-largest of gem quality. It was found in the Karowe mine, (formerly called AK6) in Botswana ...
*
List of diamonds
Diamonds become famous typically for some combination of their size, color and quality. Diamonds occur naturally in many different colors, so the largest diamond of a particular color may not be large in absolute terms, but it may still be consid ...
*
List of largest rough diamonds
This is a partial list of the largest non-synthetic diamonds with a rough stone (uncut) weight of over 200 carats (40 grams). The list is not intended to be complete – e.g., the Cullinan (formerly Premier) mine alone has produced 135 diamond ...
*
List of diamond mines
There are a limited number of commercially available diamond mines currently operating in the world, with the 50 largest mines accounting for approximately 90% of global supply. Diamonds are also mined alluvially over disperse areas, where dia ...
*
List of mines in Botswana
References
External links
Lucara Diamond website
2019 in Botswana
Diamonds originating in Botswana
Individual diamonds
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