Technology is helping miners find bigger diamonds more frequently, meaning this list could soon be outdated
Among gemologists, the world’s biggest diamonds are more than just portable forms of extreme wealth—they’re windows into the earth’s deeper mantle.
Known as “CLIPPIR” diamonds—the acronym stands for “Cullinan-like, Large, Inclusion-Poor, Pure, Irregular, and Resorbed”—these raw stones originate at depths of 224 to 466 miles (yes, miles!), ferrying messages in the form of mineral inclusions from beneath the earth’s rigid tectonic plates to the surface, like brilliant canaries from an impossibly deep coal mine.
For laypeople, however, these remarkable rocks are impressive for a host of more obvious reasons, starting with their hefty sizing not to mention their near pricelessness.
Even more fascinating than their superlative characteristics is the fact that in recent years, big diamonds have been discovered with increasing frequency. The jewelry trade publication JCK explained it succinctly: “It’s because technology has made it easier to locate them.”
Below, we highlight the 10 largest diamonds ever discovered, in ascending order. While not all are CLIPPIRs, they are, collectively, an impressive bunch—until that is, they are unseated.
Lesotho Legend, the fifth-largest diamond ever
Photo : Ilan Tache
10. The Lesotho Legend, 910 Carats
In the world of diamonds, a Type IIa designation is the ultimate bragging right. The gemological classification denotes chemically pure diamonds with spectacular limpidity (known as “gems of the first water” in archaic gem trade lingo).
The 910-carat Lesotho Legend—found in Lesotho’s Letseng mine in 2018—has all that and more, including a perfect D color and beautiful crystallization, which helps explain why Van Cleef & Arpels has since acquired it.
