'Spectacular' Pink Diamond Is Largest Found in 300 Years

A pink diamond unearthed in Angola is the biggest gem of its kind found in centuries, according to an Australian mining company. The Lucapa Diamond Company says the 170-carat "Lulo Rose," named after the mine in northeast Angola where it was found, is one of the largest pink diamonds ever discovered, CBS reports. The gem, a type 2A diamond with few to no impurities, is believed to be the largest pink diamond to emerge since the 185-carat Daria-i-Noor, which experts believe was cut from an even larger gem mined around 300 years ago, the BBC reports.

"Only one in 10,000 diamonds is colored pink. So you're certainly looking at a very rare article when you find a very large pink diamond,” Lucapa CEO Stephen Wetherall tells the AP. The Angolan government, which is a partner in the mine, called the diamond "record and spectacular." The gem still needs to be cut and polished, which will reduce its weight significantly, but it is still likely to sell for a record-breaking price when it reaches the market.

In 2017, a 59.6-carat "Pink Star" set a record for any diamond or jewel when it sold for $71.2 million at an auction in Hong Kong. The AP notes that while the Lulo Rose's size is noteworthy, many clear diamonds are larger than 1,000 carats. The biggest is the Cullinan diamond found in 1905 in South Africa, at a whopping 3,106 carats. (More pink diamond stories.)