Modern Era Discoveries
Six diamonds found or sold in the last decade, and four historic icons still held in collections today — proof that extraordinary stones are still being found, cut and sold.
The last part of the Famous Rare Diamonds series. Prices are the published auction results, with year and auction house; the earlier record sales are in Part I — Auction Records.
1,109 ct rough
D Color · Type IIa
Square Emerald
$53M (rough, 2017)
The Graff Lesedi La Rona
Recovered in November 2015 at Lucara's Karowe mine in Botswana, the 1,109-carat rough was named "Our Light" in Setswana. At the time it was the largest rough diamond found since the Cullinan in 1905; it remains one of the ten largest rough diamonds ever recovered. Karowe has since produced even larger stones — the 1,758-carat Sewelô in 2019 and the 2,492-carat Motswedi in 2024, second in size only to the Cullinan. Laurence Graff bought the Lesedi La Rona in 2017 for $53 million and had it planned and cut over some 18 months into a 302.37-carat square emerald cut, which Graff describes as the largest highest-color, highest-clarity diamond ever graded by the GIA.
The Graff Lesedi La Rona · 302.37 ct
Fancy Vivid
Purplish Pink · IF
Cushion Cut
$34.8M (2023)
The Eternal Pink
Mined by De Beers in Botswana in 2019 — not at Argyle — and cut by Diacore over about six months, keeping less than half the rough's weight to reach Fancy Vivid color. Sotheby's described it as the most valuable purplish-pink diamond ever offered at auction, and it sold at Sotheby's New York in June 2023 for $34.8 million. Large, strongly colored pinks have drawn particular attention since Australia's Argyle mine, the source of about 90% of the world's pink supply, closed in 2020.
The Eternal Pink · 10.57 ct
Fancy Vivid
Purple-Pink · IF
Oval · Type IIa
$26.6M (2020)
The Spirit of the Rose
Cut from a 27.85-carat rough that Alrosa described as the largest pink diamond ever mined in Russia, from the Ebelyakh deposit in Yakutia. It is named after the 1911 Ballets Russes production Le Spectre de la Rose. The GIA graded it Fancy Vivid Purple-Pink, Internally Flawless, and Type IIa. According to Sotheby's, it was the largest purple-pink diamond of its grade ever offered at auction when it sold at Sotheby's Geneva in November 2020.
The Spirit of the Rose · 14.83 ct
Fancy Vivid Blue
Radiant Cut · Type IIb
$25.3M (2023)
The Infinite Blue
Its rough came from South Africa's Cullinan mine — the source of the Cullinan itself and of the De Beers Blue and the Blue Moon of Josephine. The radiant was deliberately cut to a weight containing the number 8, a sign of prosperity in Chinese culture. Like the Hope Diamond, it is a boron-bearing Type IIb. Offered on its own at Sotheby's Hong Kong in October 2023, it sold for about $25.3 million, just under its low estimate.
The Infinite Blue · 11.28 ct
G Color · VS1
Pear Shape
$21.9M (2022)
The Rock
Offered by Christie's as the largest white diamond ever to appear at auction, this 228.31-carat pear sold at Christie's Geneva in May 2022 for about $21.9 million. Its price per carat was far below that of the top fancy colors — a clear example of how strongly fancy color drives value at the very top of the market.
The Rock · 228.31 ct
Fancy Intense Pink · IF
Round Brilliant · Type IIa
$13.3M (2024)
The Eden Rose
A 10.20-carat round brilliant, Fancy Intense Pink, Internally Flawless and Type IIa. Christie's highlighted its pure pink color with no secondary hue — most pinks show a touch of purple, orange or gray — and called it the most significant stone of its kind offered since the Martian Pink in 2012. It sold at Christie's New York in June 2024 for $13.3 million, above its high estimate.
The Eden Rose · 10.20 ct
"The diamond world is not a museum. It is a living, evolving market — and the last twenty years have produced some of the most extraordinary discoveries in history."— Brian Gavin
Fancy Yellow
Cushion Modified
82 Facets
Tiffany & Co.
The Tiffany Yellow Diamond
Probably the best-known yellow diamond in the world. Found in South Africa in 1878 as a rough of about 287 carats, it was bought by Charles Lewis Tiffany for $18,000 and cut into a 128.54-carat cushion with 82 facets. Only four people are known to have worn it: Mary Whitehouse (1957), Audrey Hepburn (1961 publicity photographs for Breakfast at Tiffany's), Lady Gaga (2019 Academy Awards) and Beyoncé (2021).
Fancy Red
Triangular Brilliant
Moussaieff
The Moussaieff Red Diamond
Red is the rarest of all diamond colors — see other fancy colors. Widely cited estimates put the number of known pure reds in the low dozens, most of them under a carat. At 5.11 carats, the Moussaieff Red is widely cited as the largest Fancy Red the GIA has graded. It was shown alongside the Hope Diamond in the Smithsonian's "Splendor of Diamonds" exhibition in 2003.
The Moussaieff Red · 5.11 ct
Faint Bluish-Green Tint
Rose Cut
Indian Origin
Kremlin, Moscow
The Orlov Diamond
Set in the Imperial Sceptre of Catherine the Great and displayed in the Kremlin's Diamond Fund. By legend it was once the eye of a statue in a South Indian temple, stolen by a French deserter — a story that cannot be verified. The documented part begins when Count Grigory Orlov bought it and presented it to Catherine around 1773–1774. It has stayed in the sceptre ever since.
Pale Pink
Table Cut
Indian Origin
Tehran, Iran
The Daria-i-Noor
"Sea of Light" in Persian. One of the largest known pink diamonds and the best-known stone in the Iranian Crown Jewels. It was taken to Persia after Nader Shah's 1739 sack of Delhi — the same campaign that carried off the Koh-i-Noor (see Part II — Legendary Diamonds). Its weight is an estimate because it has never been removed from its setting. A 1960s study suggested that it and the Nur-ul-Ain may have been cut from the same large table diamond.
The Daria-i-Noor · about 182 ct
Sources: Sotheby's and Christie's sale results; Graff; Lucara Diamond; Alrosa; Rapaport (Infinite Blue result); Natural Diamond Council (Argyle share of pink supply); Smithsonian Institution.
The Market Is Not a Museum
Extraordinary diamonds are still being discovered and cut today. If you are ready to explore this world, we welcome the conversation.
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