The Biggest and Priciest Diamonds of 2018

RAPAPORT... As the year comes to a close, Rapaport News takes alook back at the largest rough stones miners unearthed in 2018, and thediamonds that fetched the highest prices at auction.Colossal findsThe 910-carat Lesotho Legend, which Gem Diamonds recoveredin January, claimsthe top spot this year. The D-color, type IIa stone - whichthe miner says is the fifth-largest gem-quality diamond ever found - sold to Samir Gems for $40 million. Dominion Diamond Mines unearthed a 553-carat yellow diamondat the Diavik mine, its joint venture with Rio Tinto, in December. The companyclaims the chicken-egg-sized stone is the largest known gem-quality diamondfound in North America. In April, Lucara Diamond Corp. recovered a 472-carat,light-brown, gem-quality diamond, the third-largest it has ever produced fromits Karowe mine in Botswana. Later that month, Lucara also mined a 327-carat, whitegem-quality stone from Karowe, its eighth over 100 carats this year. A 169-carat find by Gem Diamonds rounds out the list. Thewhite, type IIa diamond was recovered from the Let??eng mine in Lesotho inMarch. Magnificent salesThe top-selling piece at auction this year was the PinkLegacy, a rectangular-cut,18.96-carat, fancy-vivid-pink diamond, which sold toHarry Winston for $50.4 million at Christie's Geneva Magnificent Jewels salein November. The diamond set a world record for average price for a pinkdiamond at auction, fetching $2.7 million per carat. A natural-pearl and diamond pendant that once belonged toMarie Antoinette sold for more than 18 times its high presale estimate,going for $36.2 million at Sotheby's Geneva auction in November. A pear-shaped, 8.01-carat, fancy-vivid-blue, internallyflawless diamond necklace by Moussaieff comes in third, raking in $20.5 millionat Christie's Magnificent Jewels auction in Hong Kong in May. The pieceachieved $2.6 million per carat. The fourth-highest seller this year was also sold byChristie's, at its December Magnificent Jewels auction in New York. The cushion-cut, 8.08-carat, fancy-vivid-blue Bulgari diamond ring went for $18.3 million. Finally, the Ai diamond, named after the Chinese word forlove, captures the fifth spot. The step-cut, 5-carat, fancy-vivid-blue stonewent for $13.8 million - $2.8 million per carat - at Sotheby's Hong Kongauction in October. Information about the biggest diamonds recovered this year was collected from miners that release such data, and does not include De Beers, Alrosa and others.Image: The Lesotho Legend and the Winston Pink Legacy. (Gem Diamonds, Christie's)