stanleyjewelers
March 19th, 2013
Valued at more than $30 million, the L’Incomparable Diamond Necklace by Mouawad features a staggering 1,044 carats of diamonds, including the internally flawless golden L’Incomparable Diamond weighing in at 407.48 carats. The high-profile designer claims that the unusual triolette-cut gem is the world’s largest internally flawless diamond. The necklace was unveiled for the first time at the Doha Jewellery and Watch Exhibition in Qatar a few weeks ago.

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Complementing the massive L’Incomparable Diamond are 637 carats of smaller white diamonds in pear, brilliant and emerald cuts, all set in rose gold in a laurel wreath design. There are 91 diamonds in total.

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Although no price was put on the piece, some jewelry experts estimated that the L’Incomparable Diamond Necklace would probably command an asking price of $30 million or more if it were ever offered for sale.

The flawless center stone, which was discovered 33 years ago in the Democratic Republic of Congo, weighed 890 carats in its rough state. It was polished in 1984, and its first public appearance was at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, D.C.

A young girl is credited with finding the L’Incomparable Diamond in a pile of rubble collected from an old mine dump. The diamond had been overlooked because the bulky rubble was thought to be too large to contain any diamonds. This massive rough diamond was considered to be cut into the world's largest gem, but the final size was reduced to 407.5 carats in order to earn a flawless grade.