The worlds biggest luxury goods conglomerate in the world has just purchased the worlds second biggest diamond and while that in itself is a coup, we can’t help but to wonder why LVMH (The parent company of Louis Vuitton) didn’t just make an even bigger statement by purchasing the largest diamond to have ever been found. Before we get to that though, lets cover the news!
Fresh from its close to RM64.91 billion purchase of Tiffany & Co., LVMH is obviously not done making statements and if there were any previous doubters about the French fashion house’s interest in the high-end jewelry market, this has to have removed all doubt.
The 1758-carat “Sewelo” diamond, which is the largest rough diamond to have been discovered since 1905 was unearthed to great fanfare last April but since then we’ve not exactly seen or heard anything about it since, until now of course. “Sewelo”, which means “rare find” in the southern African Tswana language, was originally uncovered by Lucara Diamond Corp and both LVMH and Lucara have been tight lipped on the details of the deal.
According to sources, Lucara and LVMH have yet to put a price on the diamond, with the tennis ball sized stone’s full potential only expected to be revealed after it has been polished. It remains unclear how exactly the diamond will be used but with brands such as Italian jewelry brand Bulgari, watchmakers TAG Heuer and Hublot and of course, the acquisition of Tiffany & Co., it’s safe to say we have a rough idea.
Circling back to why LVMH opted for the second biggest rock to have ever been unearthed, the largest rough diamond ever to be discovered is known as the Cullinan Diamond and it was unearthed way back in 1905.
As you would imagine, it has already been purchased and cut up into several pieces, the largest of which is named Cullinan I or the Great Star of Africa and is currently mounted in the head of the Sovereign’s Sceptre with Cross, which in case you didn’t know, is part of Crown Jewels of the United Kingdom. Fun fact: The second largest piece is also part of the Crown Jewels of the United Kingdom and is mounted in the Imperial State Crown. In fact, all the significant pieces of the Cullinan diamond went to England, so.. yeah. (The early 1900s was a good time to be England).
