Lucapa Diamond Company Ltd recently unveiled a 15.2-carat heart-shaped pink diamond that was cut and polished from a 46-carat rough unearthed from the Lulo diamond mine in Angola. 

The Gemmological Institute of America has graded the diamond as fancy intense orangey pink, with a clarity grade of VVS1 and excellent gradings for both polish and symmetry.

According to Lucapa, the 46-carat pink rough was the largest gem-quality fancy colour diamond recovered to date from the Lulo mining operations. 

It was found by Sociedade Mineira Do Lulo (SML), which sold it into a cutting and polishing partnership to Safdico International Ltd. Under the agreement, SML retains a share in the margin to be generated from the sale of the polished diamonds.

Two pear-shaped pink diamonds weighing 3.3 carats and 2.3 carats respectively were also cut and polished from the rough, in addition to the 15.2-carat heart-shaped diamond.

Stephen Wetherall, Lucapa’s chief executive and managing director, commented, “Pink diamonds are rare and constitute less than 0.1 per cent of global diamond production. With the recent closure of the renowned Argyle mine in Australia, these diamonds are about to become even more scarce. This bodes well for the sale of the 15.2-carat pink diamond.”