Image credit: Louis Vuitton
Sethunya was recovered unbroken from direct milling of ore sourced from the EM/PK(S) unit of the South Lobe of Lucara's wholly owned Karowe Mine in Botswana last February.
Lucara said the agreement builds on the collaboration, announced in January, with Louis Vuitton and HB on the historic 1,758 carats Sewelô, Botswana's largest diamond, also recovered from Karowe last year.
"We are extremely pleased to be building on the groundbreaking partnership established for the manufacturing of the Sewelô earlier this year, bringing together the manufacturing and supply chain expertise of HB Antwerp in collaboration with the world's leading luxury brand, Louis Vuitton, to transform Sethunya…into an extraordinary, bespoke, polished diamond collection, catering exclusively to the desires of Louis Vuitton's global customer base," said Lucara chief executive Eira Thomas.
Under the arrangement, the parties will collaborate and plan the creation of the highest value polished diamonds from the 549-carat rough, which will be made available to Louis Vuitton exclusively.
Lucara will be paid a purchase price based on the estimated polished outcome, determined by HB's state of the art scanning and planning technologies, with a true-up paid on the actual achieved polished sales thereafter, less a fee and the cost of manufacturing.
Lucara will receive the purchase price based on the polished outcome no later than the fourth quarter of 2021.
Mathew Nyaungwa, Editor in Chief of the African Bureau, Rough&Polished
