De Beers Jwaneng 28.88 diamond sold at Sotheby’s Hong Kong for $2.6 Mn

Recovered from the world’s richest diamond mine beneath the Kalahari Desert, transformed from a 114-carat rough by months of meticulous craftsmanship, and sold this week in Hong Kong.

Start with the basics, because the basics here are anything but ordinary. The Jwaneng 28.88 diamond is a 28.88-carat round brilliant cut diamond graded D color and flawless clarity by GIA. These are the absolute top grades achievable in both categories. Beyond that, it carries a  Type IIA classification, which places it among the rarest natural diamond types on Earth. Fewer than two percent of all natural diamonds reach this designation. 

Type IIa stones contain virtually no nitrogen impurities, the element responsible for the faint yellowish or brownish tint present in most colorless diamonds. The result is a transparency and purity of color that experienced gemologists describe as almost water-like.