Lucara sells 549-carat white diamond to Louis Vuitton

Canadian Diamond company Lucara has sold its exceptional 549-carat white gem diamond mined at its Karowe Mine in Botswana to Louis Vuitton and HB Antwerp on Thursday.

Lucara announced the deal in a communique to shareholders issued on the Botswana Stock Exchange Thursday. The diamond, dubbed “Sethunya,” was recovered unbroken from the direct milling of ore sourced from Karowe Mine in February 2020. Lucara’s deal with Louis Vuitton and HB Antwerp builds on the initial collaboration announced in January for a historic 1,758-carat Sewelo, Botswana’s largest diamond, recovered from Karowe last year.

Under the arrangement, the three parties will collaborate and plan the creation of a rough diamond, which will be made available exclusively to Louis Vuitton. Lucara will be paid a purchase price based on the estimated polished outcome, determined by HB’s scanning and planning technologies, with a true up payment on the actual achieved polished sales thereafter, less a fee and the cost of manufacturing.