Sierra Leone’s ‘Peace Diamond’ shown ahead of New York auction

Sierra Leone’s “Peace Diamond” shown before auction at New York, New York, United States on November 21, 2017 (Reuters)

NEW YORK CITY, New York (Reuters) — The 14th largest diamond in the world was displayed in New York on Tuesday (November 21) and will go up for auction in New York on December 4.

The “Peace Diamond” was discovered in Sierra Leone and is 709 carats in its uncut form.

“I think the idea that we trust the government of Sierra Leone today is a very important sea change in how the world is thinking and how the world is moving. Every person who buys this diamond is going to pay directly to the government of Sierra Leone, that’s our agreement,” chairman of the Rapaport Group, Martin Rapaport, said.

The Sierra Leone government has already attempted to auction the diamond in its capital, Freetown, but rejected the highest bid of $7.8 million.

The auction is now being managed by the Rapaport Group, an international diamond trading network, which says all profits will go to Sierra Leone, with a cut going to fund water, electricity, health and education projects in the village where it was discovered.

Diamonds fueled a decade-long civil war in Sierra Leone that ended in 2002 and killed 50,000 people. Rebels forced civilians in the east to mine the stones and bought weapons with the proceeds, leading to the term “blood diamonds.”

“From rough diamonds that make the world a better place, is fundamental to the idea behind what we are doing here because it’s not just the benefits to Sierra Leone. It’s the benefits to a woman in the United States, or a man, receiving a diamond and knowing this diamond now on my finger here, this saved lives. This helped people. What a wonderful gift, what a wonderful emotional gift, such a diamond would be,” Rapaport added.