Louis Vuitton Sethunya Diamond
Less than a year after the momentous discovery of the 1758-carat Sewelô rough diamond, Louis Vuitton enters into a second collaboration with Lucara Diamond Corp. (Karowe mine, Botswana) and HB Antwerp, the closed-circle technology company focusing on the diamond industry, to fashion a 549-carat gem quality rough diamond.
On 1st February 2020, on a crystalline, sunlit day at Lucara’s Karowe Mine, a conscientious, normally quiet Motswana diamond sorter, screamed with joy. She had found, what every diamond worker dreams of, an extraordinarily large and pristine rough diamond in the so-called “glove box”, the special sorting section of the state-of-the-art MDR – Mega Diamond Recovery XRT circuit that spots and rescues larger carbon-rich specimens, before they reach the traditional, destructive process of ore-crushing. Once weighed and initially assessed, the diamond was found to be a magnificent 549 carats, of exceptional purity, high lustre and high colour. It had been extracted from the same unit of the South Lobe of the Lucara-owned mine that had yielded other wondrous natural treasures including the 1109-carat Lesedi La Rona, and the 1758-carat Sewelô, the captivating, black-coated diamond presented by Louis Vuitton in January this year.
The 549-carat diamond is named Sethunya, meaning flower in the Setswana language, a gentle nod to Louis Vuitton’s emblematic Monogram flower.
As with the Sewelô, Louis Vuitton has joined with Lucara, a leading producer of large exceptional quality diamonds, owner of the Karowe diamond mine and HB Antwerp, world-renowned Antwerp-based diamond supply chain and manufacturing company in a collaborative venture, both creative and commercial, to nurture this latest spectacular rarity from rough crystal to polished stone to exquisite jewel, to be offered to Louis Vuitton jewellery clients. With this second collaboration, Louis Vuitton moves further into the hallowed realm of High Jewellery, joining the great heritage master-jewellers of the Place Vendôme. The 549-carat diamond – named Sethunya, meaning flower in the Setswana language, a gentle nod to Louis Vuitton’s emblematic Monogram flower – estimated to be 1-2 billion years old, is remarkable both for the consistency of extreme purity and whiteness throughout the crystal. It is expected to yield exceptionally beautiful polished stones of the highest quality in clarity and colour.
The ultimate in personalisation
In line with its long tradition of personalisation, Louis Vuitton plans to offer bespoke diamonds fashioned from this rare specimen, cut, polished and made-to-order to the client’s wishes: the ultimate personalised High Jewellery experience and the opportunity to create a truly unique gem, a storied family heirloom. In this way, the client will be involved in the creative process of plotting, cutting and polishing, becoming part of the story that the stone will carry with it into history.
From Botswana, through Antwerp, to Paris Enhancing tradition, trust and transparency
Journeys of adventure and discovery are part of Louis Vuitton’s core values: so appropriately, through this ground-breaking collaboration, Louis Vuitton charts the diamond’s voyage from the centre of the Earth, through aeons of time and throughout today’s supply chain, ensuring full provenance for each of the sublime stones that will be conjured from the rough crystal. Each diamond will be traced through HB Antwerp’s closed-circle technologies, with full transparency, from its exact origins in the Lucara’s Karowe mine, as it passes from the skilled hands of expert cutters in Antwerp to the hands of Louis Vuitton’s artisan-jewellers in their Paris workshops. Along the way, the people of Botswana benefit from the discovery, the collaboration, and from the proceeds of the diamond. All of which adds to the reassurance of quality and integrity for which Louis Vuitton is known the world over.
Enduring legacy and longevity
This year dawned with the presentation of the Sewelô and ends with the brilliant lustre of an astonishing white diamond, a wondrous natural treasure brought exclusively to Louis Vuitton clients. The diamond offers a safe haven, one of enduring legacy and longevity.
The year 2020 also marks the launch of Louis Vuitton’s cosmic High Jewellery collection, Stellar Times, an homage to the other-worldly beauty of gemstones, celebrating their journey from mine to masterpiece.
