PhotoLONDON — High in the mountains of a small southern African kingdom, miners have unearthed one of the largest diamonds ever found, a glittering giant weighing 910 carats, or 6.4 ounces, and probably worth tens of millions of dollars. The stone, found in the Letseng mine in Lesotho, is the fifth-largest gem-quality diamond ever found, and the largest in Lesotho’s history. It weighs more than a regulation baseball (about 5 ounces), and more than half as much as the average male human heart (about 10 ounces). The previous largest find in Lesotho, the 603-carat Lesotho Promise diamond, sold for $12.4 million in 2006, and diamond prices have increased significantly since then. Elizabeth Taylor’s famous collection of hefty jewels included a 33-carat diamond ring that sold at auction for $8.8 million in 2011, and a 69-carat diamond, both bought for her by Richard Burton in the late 1960s.

Source: New York Times January 15, 2018 15:33 UTC