Top 10 largest diamonds in the world

1. The Sergio Diamond: The largest rough diamond in history

The Sergio Diamond tops the list of the 10 largest rough black diamonds discovered. This 3,167-carat black diamond was found in 1895 in Bahia, Brazil. Carbonados are very rare, but not very valuable. They are the hardest type of diamond. They often resemble carbon in their natural form.

Some experts believe this stone came from space. More specifically, from a supernova fragment that arrived on Earth 2.3 billion years ago. The Sergio was cut into numerous small diamonds of 3 to 6 carats, which were used for industrial purposes. This is why it is often omitted from the top 10 lists of the largest diamonds in the world.

2. The Cullinan Diamond

The largest rough diamond of "jewelry" quality ever found is the Cullinan . It weighed 3,106 carats (1.37 kg). It was discovered in 1905, near Pretoria in South Africa, in the famous Premier mine. Sir Thomas Cullinan presented this magnificent stone to King Edward VII. After cutting and polishing, 9 major stones (pictured above, including the 530.4 carat Cullinan I ) as well as 96 brilliant-cut stones were produced. These diamonds are still mainly part of the British Crown Jewels.

3. The Graff Lesedi La Rona

This 1,109-carat rough diamond was discovered in 2015 by Lucara Diamond at the Karowe mine in Botswana. The tennis-ball-sized Lesedi La Rona was too large to be extracted with the mine's equipment, so a custom scanner had to be built and new imaging software developed. After months of studying the rough, Graff cut a 302.37-carat square emerald-cut diamond of exceptional clarity (below). It is the largest emerald-cut (square) diamond in the world.

The rough also produced 66 smaller diamonds. The 302.37-carat emerald-cut stone was named the Graff Lesedi La Rona .

4. The Excelsior Diamond

The Excelsior Diamond was the largest diamond in the world until the discovery of the Cullinan. The stone was found in 1893 by a miner at the Jagersontein mine in South Africa. Due to its size and the quality of the diamond, it was difficult to find a buyer.

Finally, in 1904, the 995.2-carat diamond was sent to I.J. Asscher, a renowned Amsterdam diamond dealer. He cut it into 10 stones. The largest gem held was a pear-shaped diamond weighing 69.69 carats.

5. The Star of Sierra Leone

The world's fifth largest diamond was found in 1972 at the Diminco mine in Sierra Leone. The diamond was originally purchased for approximately $2.5 million by jeweler Harry Winston, who cut the 969-carat rough into an emerald cut. When an internal flaw was discovered, the diamond was recut into 17 smaller stones, the largest being a 53.96-carat pear-shaped diamond.

6. The Incomparable

One of the world's largest diamonds, the Incomparable , was discovered in 1989 by a young girl playing in the Democratic Republic of Congo. It took experts four years to analyze and finally cut the 890-carat diamond . It was decided to cut a smaller, flawless diamond instead of keeping a larger, but inferior stone. The resulting 407.78-carat diamond, the Fancy Deep Brownish Yellow , is internally flawless.

7. The Constellation Diamond

Mined in 2015 from the Karowe mine in Botswana, the Constellation diamond weighed 813 carats . It was originally owned by Lucara Diamond Corp. After a few transactions, the diamond was acquired by De Beers, which then sold it to Zale Corporation.

In a widely publicized sale in 2016, the diamond was purchased by Dubai-based Nemesis International DMCC for a record $63.1 million.

8. The Koh-i-Noor

The Koh-i-Noor diamond is one of the most legendary diamonds. It also ranks highly in our ranking of the world's most expensive diamonds. Its history dates back to at least the 13th century. It was reportedly discovered in the Kollur mine in India. The 793-carat rough diamond was owned by the ruling dynasty, and later by Sikh, Mughal, and Persian rulers.

In 1849, Queen Victoria became the owner of the Koh-i-Noor. In 1852, Prince Albert ordered the diamond to be cut, resulting in a 186-carat oval-cut diamond . The Koh-i-Noor remains the property of the British Crown today.

9. The Millennium Star Diamond

Originally mined from the Mbuji-Mayi mine in the Democratic Republic of Congo in 1990, the Millennium Star weighed 777 carats in its rough state. Purchased by De Beers, the Millennium Star was cut by the Steinmetz Group into a D-quality (flawless) pear-shaped diamond weighing 203.04 carats.

The Millennium Star took three years to carve. In addition to creating the largest pear-shaped diamond, a 27.64-carat heart-shaped fancy vivid blue diamond and 11 blue diamonds equaling 118 carats were also created from the rough.

10. The Woyie River Diamond

Now here is the last one in this top 10 of the largest diamonds in the world , the Woyie River . Extracted in 1945, this diamond, also weighing 777 carats , was named after the river where it was discovered, the Woyie. At the time, the Woyie River diamond was the largest alluvial diamond ever found.

The rough was then transported to Great Britain. It was exhibited at the British Industries Fair in 1949. The diamond was eventually cut into 30 stones. The largest diamond obtained is the Victory Diamond , a reference to the Allied victory in World War II.

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