Have you heard of the Lesedi la Rona?

 

So that's my question;  have you heard of the Lesedi la Rona?

Up until a few weeks ago, I had not.  Which is kind of surprising, because I do follow news of big expensive gemstones.  This one escaped my knowledge until I made a new entry in that category.

So, here is the pertinent information.

From Wikipedia:

"... the fourth-largest diamond ever found, and the third-largest of gem quality."

Graff, which has a Web page on it, gives us more information:

"The 302.37 carat Graff Lesedi La Rona is the largest highest colour, highest clarity diamond ever certified by the GIA, and the world’s largest square emerald cut diamond, expertly cut and polished by Graff’s world leading team of gemmologists and master polishers."

It was discovered in 2015, so definitely a recent find.

There's more here:  Diamond Hall of Fame: The Graff Lesedi La Rona

Uncut stone:

The Graff Lesedi la Rona:

So, next question:  where is the big stone (shown above) now?

That's a good question.  And I have no answer.  My guess is that the owners are quietly entertaining offers of very large sums of money, and that it might end up on a royal collection somewhere.  But there aren't nearly as many royal collections now as there used to be.  It seems a shame that something this wondrous is not located where people (like me) can gawp at it in awe, but it seems that is currently the status of the Graff Lesedi la Rona -- it's in an undisclosed location.