Rare diamond achieves record sale price at auction in South Africa

Tue, 02 Mar 2010

The Cullinan Heritage diamond, which was discovered last year, was recently purchased for £23.1 million by the Hong Kong based Chow Tai Fook Jewellery Company .

The 507-carat gem is one of the largest diamonds ever discovered and was found at the Cullinan mine in South Africa, a known source of some of the world's largest diamonds.

Petra, the mining company that discovered the diamond, said the price reflected the gem's rare combination of size and exceptional clarity. Petra's chief executive, Johan Dippenaar, said: "It has the potential to produce one of the world's most important polished gems ."

The discovery of the Cullinan Heritage has also confirmed Petra’s faith in the South African mine. It bought it for one billion rand (around £72 million at the time) two years ago from De Beers, which wanted to concentrate on newer mines. The Cullinan mine is famous for its large gems, including the largest ever discovered, the 3,106 carat Cullinan Diamond which was cut into nine separate stones, some of which form part of the British Crown Jewels .
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