A diamond 3,000 years old the size of a tennis ball - the largest discovered in the last century - could sell for more than $ 70 million, Sotheby's said Wednesday.
The auction house plans to finish the diamond Lesedi the Rona in London on June 29.
The gem was discovered last November in Botswana, at a mine owned Canadian company Lucara Diamond Corporation. With its 1,109 carats, the second highest quality diamond ever discovered. Its name means "our light" in the Tswana of southern Africa.
The diamond in the rough "exceptional transparency" and he could get the highest quality diamond ever cut and polished, explained the auction house.
David Bennett, chairman of the division of Sotheby's jewelry, described the discovery of the unique piece and said it was an unprecedented auction.
"Not only superlatives in size and quality raw but has never offered even remotely something of this scale before in a public auction," he said.
The largest diamond ever found is the Cullinan, 3,106 carats, which was found in South Africa in 1905. It was cut into nine pieces that are part of the Crown Jewels of the United Kingdom.
The Lesedi the Rona could exceed the highest price ever paid in a bid for a diamond, the $ 48.5 million disbursed last year in Geneva by the "Blue Moon", a size of 12.03 carats. Hong Kong billionaire Joseph Lau of bought it as a gift for her daughter seven years. AP