Diamond

Dubbed the Sewelô, meaning “rare find” in the southern African Tswana language, the 1,758-carat rough diamond is dark in colour and about the size of your palm.

Louis Vuitton recently announced that it is now the proud owner of the world’s second largest diamond, marking the French fashion house’s interest in the high-end jewellery market.

Dubbed the Sewelô, meaning “rare find” in the southern African Tswana language, the 1,758-carat rough diamond is dark in colour and about the size of your palm.

It was originally discovered by Canadian-based Lucara Diamond Corp at its Karowe mine in Botswana last April and then unveiled at the Maison’s Palace Vendôme store in Paris last week.

Prized not only for its impressive size, the Sewelô also boasts a unique shape, composition and formation. Upon discovery, the gem was covered in a thin layer of black carbon that suggests a 2-billion-year-old history.

It was ultimately the rarity of this diamond that appealed to the brand’s sense of adventure and creativity, earning it high praises of “an extraordinary, idiosyncratic diamond specimen, a wondrous miracle of Mother Nature, mesmerizingly mysterious, with its contradictions of darkness and light, and hidden depths of beauty and lustre, waiting for the right expertise and sensibility to be revealed to the world.”

See also: 10 things you didn’t know about coloured diamonds

The brand plans to use the extraordinary features of the Sewelô to offer clients the opportunity to create bespoke, custom-cut diamonds – in line with its heritage of special made-to-order commissions.

This industry-disrupting move will allow clients to be a part of the creative process of writing the story of such an exquisite piece of diamond, from the core of the earth to the heart of High Jewellery.

While the purchase price for the stone remains undisclosed, Lucara and Louis Vuitton will work together to create a collection of fine jewellery that commemorates this momentous discovery.

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Photos: Louis Vuitton