Editor’s Note
This article discusses the discovery of the “Motswedi,” a 2,488-carat diamond found in Botswana in 2024. It highlights the partnership between the mining company Lucara and the Belgian firm HB Antwerp for cutting and marketing such exceptional stones.
The Motswedi, the world’s second largest diamond at 2,488 carats and weighing half a kilogram, was extracted in the summer of 2024 from the Karowe mine in northeastern Botswana, Africa’s leading diamond producer.
This mine is owned by the Canadian mining company Lucara, which has partnered with HB Antwerp to have the firm handle the transformation and marketing of any stone exceeding 10.8 carats.
For a year, the Belgian company has boasted of having acquired at least three rough diamonds exceeding 1,000 carats, presented as proof that Antwerp remains a major hub for diamond cutting and polishing, despite international competition.
To estimate the value of the Motswedi, it still needs to be analyzed by scanner, a technique that allows for a preliminary assessment of the impurities it contains, explains Margaux Donckier.
she says. Its name means “water source or underground water flow” in the Tswana language.
Before its discovery in August 2024, the largest diamond found in Botswana was a 1,758-carat stone also extracted by Lucara in 2019 and named Sewelo, which means “rare discovery” in Tswana.
As large as a tennis ball, it was purchased by the Louis Vuitton house, a flagship brand of the luxury giant LVMH, for an undisclosed price.
The record for the largest diamond ever discovered is still held by the Cullinan, which was extracted in 1905 from a mine in South Africa, estimated at 3,106 carats.