‘Diamonds are a girl’s best friend’ was a well-known fact in the early days of old-Hollywood glamour. The sparkle that lay deep within each carat of the famous gem was expected to shine bright for generations upon generations to come…
or so we thought.
In a surprising turn of events, the iconic lyrics might just be starting to lose its credibility.
According to recent statistics, prices of the gem are foreseen to slump as much as 10% this year. The cause? Apparently, the diamond is starting to lose its appeal to younger consumers. In a recent e-interview with Bloomberg, Ben Cleary—co-manager of Tribeca Global Natural Resources Fund—writes that “Diamonds are marketed on the idea that they will forever represent a pinnacle of luxury and materialist desire…our concern is whether a younger generation of millennials will have the same allegiance to the same products as their parents and grandparents.”
Ergo, this article—an attempt to convince the youngins reading right now that the diamond is still alive, still important, still beautiful and most importantly, still luxurious.
Just recently, Gem Diamonds Ltd. discovered a 910-carat stone high up in the mountains of Lesotho, South Africa. The still-unnamed gem is now deemed as the fifth largest diamond in history. That means that there are four more, far larger and far more blinding than the latter. We listed them down in the hopes that their sparkle knocks you unconscious and wakes you up in a world where diamonds are forever.
That’s the only world we want to live in.
The Lesedi La Rona
Named after a direct translation of “our light”, the Lesedi La Rona is a 1,109-carat wonder found within the depths of Botswana by Canadian miner Lucara Diamond Corp. in 2015. The gem was sold last year for $53 million to Graff Diamonds.
The Cullinan Diamond
This big chunk of drool-worthy greatness is 3,106 carats—the largest so far. Found at the Premier mine in South Africa last 1905 (it’s more than a century old), the gem was given to King Edward VII as a birthday present before it was sent to Antwerp to be cut into smaller gems; The two biggest cuts (the Great Star of Africa and the Lesser Star of Africa) are found in the Crown Jewels of Britain.
The Star of Sierra Leone
The name of this diamond is as gorgeous as the diamond itself. 969 carats, it was discovered in (where else) Sierra Leone in 1972, and was eventually divided into 17 different cuts.
Excelsior Diamond
It’s a shame that this bluish-white, 995-carat gift from the cosmos was cut into 20 pieces, the largest bought for $2.6 million to serve as an accent to a bracelet.
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by Samantha Masigan
