The largest diamond found in more than a century has been unearthed at a mine in Botswana. The country’s president showed off the fist-sized stone to the world at a viewing ceremony Thursday.

The largest diamond found in more than a century has been unearthed at a mine in Botswana, and the country’s president showed off the fist-sized stone to the world at a viewing ceremony Thursday.

The Botswana government says the huge 2,492-carat diamond is the second-biggest ever discovered in a mine. It’s the biggest diamond found since 1905.

    • davidgro@lemmy.worldEnglish
      232·
      3 months ago

      If the money eventually gets to the people of Botswana then it could help them. Feels like a long shot though.

      • ShinkanTrain@lemmy.mlEnglish
        601·
        3 months ago

        When was the last time a transaction involving a giant precious jewel benefited regular people?

        • CanadaPlus@lemmy.sdf.orgEnglish
          10·
          3 months ago

          Yeah, somebody in Botswana will benefit; somebody corrupt. Pennies on the dollar will trickle down, if it goes the way it normally does.

        • ayyyEnglish
          2·
          3 months ago

          Jewelry stores get robbed sometimes lol

  • n3m37hEnglish
    421·
    3 months ago

    Look ma, a rock…

    Please, I’d rather have man made stones as they are cheaper and require no slave labour

    • hoch@lemmy.worldEnglish
      71·
      3 months ago

      require no slave labour

      Apparently this was mined in a Canadian-run “ethical diamond” mine with modern worker conditions, environment protections, and safety regulations. I was kinda surprised.

    • shalafi@lemmy.worldEnglish
      2·
      3 months ago

      It was located using X-ray technology designed to find large, high-value diamonds.

      Sounds like they’re using tech at this mine.

  • BowtiesAreCool@lemmy.worldEnglish
    34·
    3 months ago

    I just want to know what genius named carats and karats ostensibly the same thing, especially when both are related to jewellery, but one means purity and the other is just a measure of weight

    • shalafi@lemmy.worldEnglish
      6·
      3 months ago

      I doubt the poor person in question was running a high-tech X-ray diamond finder.

      I wonder what percentage of people at least skim the story before forming an opinion.

    • CaliforniaSober@lemmy.caEnglish
      3·
      3 months ago

      They likely will! If touched it is then “cut” and less value. The raw “uncut” version is what will sell.

        • CaliforniaSober@lemmy.caEnglish
          3·
          3 months ago

          Eventually it’s how things go… basically dividing the wealth but ultimately we’re talking about bullshit carbon and shouldn’t be so concerned. Yet…

          • CanadaPlus@lemmy.sdf.orgEnglish
            1·
            3 months ago

            I mean, just as a scientific object it’s fascinating. I’m not going to be shamed about caring just because other people care for stupid reasons, haha.

        • GreyEyedGhost@lemmy.caEnglish
          1·
          3 months ago

          Just given the nature of diamonds and light, there are more interesting shapes. They could cut it into a simple cubic, but that wouldn’t be very interesting and you would still have some substantial pieces left over to make other diamonds from. So the usual plan is to cut more or less the largest stone you can while avoiding any major flaws and using a cut that will display the properties of diamond in their best light, and then cutting the rest into diamonds that can be sold, as well. I believe there was a larger diamond found a while back that had two fairly large diamonds cut out of it because the nature of the uncut diamond made that more profitable and esthetically pleasing than if they had just cut a single larger piece.

          Diamonds are interesting and can be pretty, but they’re also valued for vastly more than their worth, and there are other very interesting options for jewelry that are neither as expensive nor as ethically dubious as many diamonds are.

      • CanadaPlus@lemmy.sdf.orgEnglish
        2·
        3 months ago

        And then the buyer will probably cut it into whatever number and carat of individual gems will sell for the most - or so I understand.

  • Binette@lemmy.mlEnglish
    2·
    3 months ago

    Nice precious rock the Botswanans found! I’m sure it would be preserved as it is, or if it’s sold, that it would greatly benifit Botswana’s economy

    /s :(

    • CanadaPlus@lemmy.sdf.orgEnglish
      13·
      3 months ago

      And thermally conductive, and low-friction, and semiconducting. They are pretty neat, just for different reasons than people think.

      Also, it wouldn’t leave ash, because it’s totally pure carbon, but that’s just a nitpick.

      • Transporter Room 3@startrek.websiteEnglish
        4·
        3 months ago

        Well, I could have gone into detail about their scientific and industrial value, but those aren’t what massively inflates their perceived importance and price.