(IDEX Online) - A huge pink diamond weighing 170.2 carats is to be sold next month at a rough tender by Sodiam, Angola's state-owned diamond trading company.
The stone, named the Lulo Rose (pictured), was recovered by the Australia-based miner Lucapa and is believed to be the largest pink diamond found in the last 300 years.
There is speculation that as a polished gem it could sell for as much as $100m. The current auction record is the CTF Pink Star, a 59.6 carat fancy vivid pink diamond which sold in 2017 for $72.1m at Sotheby's Hong Kong.
Sodiam is selling a total of 43 diamonds at the online-only tender which opens today (24 October).
Among them are seven exceptional +10.80ct single stones from Lulo - three of them from 112-cts to160-cts, three from 45-cts to 65-cts and the Lulo Rose.
There are also 27 specials from Angola's Catoca mine and nine from Luele.