'Lesedi la Rona' too rich to sell

01 July 2016 - 09:33 By Bloomberg

The price for the biggest diamond found in more than 100 years proved too rich for even the deepest wallets at an auction in London. The 1109-carat diamond was found in Botswana. It is called Lesedi la Rona, or "our light" in Tswana.The stone was expected to sell for about $86-million, based on a diamond sale in May. That would have made it the most expensive rough gem on record.Instead, the highest bid of $61-million didn't clear the reserve price at a Sotheby's auction on Wednesday, leaving it unsold."Sotheby's orchestrated a worldwide marketing campaign that garnered huge levels of interest, but the auction just seemed to stall," said Edward Sterck, an analyst with BMO Capital Markets."We would see the potential for a private sale," possibly with an agreement in which [owner] Lucara retains some interest in the upside from the polished stones, said Sterck. ..

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