Graff Unveils World’s Largest D Flawless Heart-Shaped Diamond
The bold diamond merchant Laurence Graff made history once again today when he unveiled the Graff Venus, a 118.78-carat D flawless heart-shape diamond in London.
Named in celebration of the Roman goddess of Love, The Graff Venus is also happens to be the largest D Flawless heart shape diamond in the world. In fact, more than half of the world’s largest and most exceptional 20 diamonds discovered in the past century have been cut and polished by Graff.
Cut from a 357-carat rough discovered at the Letšeng Mine in Lesotho in 2015, The Graff Venus took 18 months to obtain its shape. The creation of a heart shape diamond is exceptionally demanding and can only be undertaken by the elite of the world’s diamond cutters, it must be perfectly faceted and entirely symmetrical to ensure a perfect silhouette and exquisite scintillation.
Because the size of the diamond was without precedent, Graff even had to develop a bespoke tool for precision cutting. With this final hurdle overcome, Graff produced a 118.88-carat stone which was sent to the Gemological Institute of America (GIA) for evaluation.
The GIA classified the stone as Internally Flawless (because of a small mark on one of the cleaving planes), but this was not enough for Laurence Graff, who was looking for absolute perfection. He therefore insisted on repolishing the stone and, after several weeks, the refinished stone, at 118.78 carats, was certified D Flawless by the GIA.
It also obtained the highest-ever classification for a diamond: Excellent cut, excellent symmetry and no flouresence. For Laurence Graff, the Graff Venus is quite simply “the most incredible and magnificent diamond that I have ever seen”.
As a happy by-product of the process a further 22 stones were produced, ranging from 15.01 carats down to 0.5 carats. “The Graff Venus presented us with a unique opportunity and I am proud to say that we have created absolute perfection,” concludes Laurence Graff.
Since being founded by Laurence Graff in 1960, Graff has gone on to become one of the biggest names in the luxury jewelry industry, and now boasts over 50 boutiques in Asia, Europe, North America, Australasia and the Middle East.
Post a Comment