Lesotho diamonds - Lesotho Brown - 1967

Some of the world's largest rough diamonds have been found in the Kingdom of Lesotho, a small African country totally surrounded by the Republic of South Africa. The first large diamond found in Lesotho in modern times was discovered by accident in 1967.

That 601-carat rough diamond has been named the 'Lesotho Brown,' after the stone's brown color. In fact, however, upon cutting and polishing, this gem showed its true color to be pink. Harry Winston purchased the rough diamond in 1968, divided it into 18 pieces, which were polished into 18 diamonds.

The largest is a 71.73-carat emerald cut flawless diamond known as the Lesotho I. The third largest stone cut from the crystal — the Lesotho III — is a 40.42-carat marquise-shaped gem that was once owned by Jackie Kennedy, given to her by her husband Aristotle Onassis. It was sold at her estate sale auction by Sotheby's in April 1996 for a price of $2,587,500.

"The diamond [Lesotho III], accompanied by GIA report #8682475 is L color, VS2 clarity. The ring was purchased by Al and Felice Lippert on behalf of their friend Tony O'Reilly of the Heinz Ketchup fortune as a birthday gift for his wife Chryssanthie Goulandris The stone comes with the original working diagram stating that the stone may be potentially flawless." Rapaport News 4-26-96

On Wednesday, November 19, 2008 the famous 71.73-carat Lesotho I diamond, estimated at $3 million-$5 million, was offered for sale at the Sotheby's Geneva auction. Along with the other two top diamonds offered at this auction, the Lesotho I failed to sell.

Wikipedia - Lesotho Brown
Internetstones.com - The Lesotho Brown
National Jeweler - Big diamonds don't sell at Sotheby's