Louis Vuitton just dropped 'millions' of dollars to buy the second-largest diamond in history

Luxury brand Louis Vuitton just purchased the second-largest diamond in the world for an undisclosed number of "millions" of dollars, according to Vanessa Friedman at The New York Times .
This news comes just months after Louis Vuitton's parent company, LVMH, announced its intention to buy American jewelry retailer Tiffany and Co. for over $16 billion.
"Nobody expects us to put such an emphasis on high jewelry," Michael Burke, chief executive officer of Louis Vuitton said, according to the New York Times . "I think it will spice things up a bit. Wake up the industry."
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French fashion house Louis Vuitton just bought the second biggest and largest uncut diamond in the world, signalling a new era for the luxury brand. The news comes just months after its parent company, LVMH, announced its intention to buy American jewelry retailer Tiffany & Co. for $16.2 billion, Business Insider previously reported.

The 1,758-carat diamond, known as the Sewelo, is the largest rough (or uncut) diamond to have been discovered since 1905, Vanessa Friedman of The New York Times reported . The diamond was revealed in April 2019, given its name in July, then "disappeared" until the announcement earlier this month that Louis Vuitton had acquired it.

"Nobody expects us to put such an emphasis on high jewelry," said Michael Burke, chief executive of Louis Vuitton, according to the New York Times . "I think it will spice things up a bit. Wake up the industry."

The dance of the diamonds

Burke declined to reveal exactly how much the company paid for the diamond, though he said it was in the "millions," the Times reports. The diamond was discovered in Botswana in 2019and is still covered in its carbon composite.

The Times reports that Vuitton and its partners in Antwerp, Belgium, have already predicted the diamond will yield a 904-carat cushion-cut, an 891-carat Oval, or "several stones" between 100 and 300 carats. But, as noted by Lauren Indvik of the Financial Times , it could be months until experts figure out how to properly cut the rough stone.

"A gamble is only as big as your ignorance," Burke told the Financial Times . "The more talent you have on your team the less of a gamble it is, and I believe we have the most talented team in the world."

The high-end jewelry competition is kicking off

Although Burke said it was only a coincidence that this announcement follows the news of LVMH's Tiffany acquisition, it does not come at a unique time in the industry, when other fashion brands are also making the foray into the high-end jewelry market. Milena Lazazzera from Business of Fashion reports that , as the middle class continues to grow in developing countries " sales of entry-level jewelry pieces are expected to balloon ."

"The past few years, however, have shown that the opportunity lies in entry-price lines, not six-figure pieces," Lazazzera reported. "Products above $100,000, while important, typically represent just 5% to 20% of established jewelers' overall sales."

Last year, Gucci released its haute jewelry collection, shortly after Giorgio Armani Priv debuted its own high-end jewelry line in March. Brunello Cucinelli and Prada already have their own collections, as do Dolce & Gabbana and Herms .

Louis Vuitton debuted its new diamond to clients and members of the press this week at Paris Fashion Week, and the flashy rock is set to go on what Burke dubbed a "world tour," landing in Taiwan next, according to the Financial Times.

"We are experimenting with a different way of bringing a stone to market," Burke said. "It's a big, unusual stone, which makes it right up our alley."

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