This Enormous Diamond Is Expected To Be The Most Expensive One Ever Sold

An auctioneer believes the largest diamond discovered in over a century could sell for more than $70 million.

According to Yahoo News, the diamond known as the Lesedi la Rona was found at a mine owned by Canada's Lucara Diamond Corporation in Botswana, Africa last November.

Its age was estimated to be between 2.5 billion and 3 billion years old.

Roughly the size of a tennis ball, the diamond measures 1,109 carats, making it the largest rough, high-quality diamond in the world today.

The diamond is so big it wouldn't fit into traditional scanners used to determine a stone's value, which is why it took several months to come up with an appropriate price, CNN reports.

Auctioneer Sotheby's said the Lesedi la Rona, which means “our light” in the national language of Botswana, possesses “exceptional transparency.”

David Bennett, chairman of Sotheby's jewelry division, added,

Not only is the rough superlative in size and quality, but no rough even remotely of this scale has ever been offered before at public auction.

If the diamond sells at the predicted price, it would break the record for the most expensive diamond ever sold.

The current record holder is the 12.03-carat Blue Moon Diamond purchased by Chinese billionaire Joseph Lau last year for $48.5 million.

Lucara's finding is trumped only by the 3,106-carat Cullinan Diamond discovered in South Africa in 1905.

That diamond was split into nine pieces and used to form the British Crown Jewels, which are on display at the Tower of London.

Sotheby's is planning on auctioning the Lesedi la Rona off in London on June 29, but it can be viewed beforehand in New York on May 7 and in London from June 18 to June 28.

Citations: Worlds second biggest diamond expected to fetch 70 million at auction (CNN), Diamond the Size of a Tennis Ball Could Fetch 70 Million (Yahoo News)