Louis Vuitton purchases world's second-biggest diamond

Diamond's name 'Sewelo' translates to 'rare find'

Louis Vuitton purchases the second-biggest diamond in the world (Louis Vuitton)

Louis Vuitton has purchased the world’s second-largest diamond, a 1,758-carat gem known as the Sewelo diamond.

On Wednesday, it was reported that the luxury French fashion house purchased the diamond for “millions” as the brand turns its attention from leather handbags to high jewellery.

The Sewelo diamond was found in Botswana in April 2019 at the Karowe mine by Lucara Diamond Corp. The name of the gem means “rare find” in Tswana - one of the languages spoken in Botswana.

Following the acquisition, the brand will work with the HB Company, a diamond manufacturer from Antwerp, to cut and polish the diamond into smaller stones that will be featured in a collection of jewellery, with Lucara getting a “non material upfront fee” and retaining a 50 per cent interest in the polished diamonds from the Sewelo.

The diamond mining company also said that five per cent of all the retail sales generated from the collection will be "invested directly back into Botswana on community-based initiatives".

While it is not currently known how much the luxury brand paid for the diamond, Michael Burke, chief executive of Louis Vuitton, told The New York Times that the price was in the “millions” and that “some of my competitors, I believe, will be surprised,” by the purchase of the tennis ball-sized gem.

“Nobody expects us to put such an emphasis on high jewellery,” he added. “I think it will spice things up a bit. Wake up the industry.”

The move comes as Louis Vuitton has displayed a new interest in the jewellery market, having recently hired design director Francesca Amfitheatrof to head its high jewellery collection.

The largest-ever rough diamond found was the 3,106-carat Cullinan diamond, which was found in South Africa in 1905. It was eventually cut into nine stones. Two of the bigger stones from the gem, the Great Star of Africa and the Lesser Star of Africa, are incorporated into the crown jewels of Britain, Bloomberg reports.

In 2015, the Lucara company found the 1,109-carat Lesedi La Rona diamond, which was the second-largest stone at the time. It was sold to British jeweller Graff for $53m.