Days after unearthing the biggest diamond in a century, Canadian mining company Lucara is still unable to put a value on the enormous stone. Despite reports it could be worth “north of $60 million,” CEO William Lamb told CNNMoney it’s too early to know and the company has made no estimate yet. Diamonds aren’t just priced by the carat, Lamb said. The value is also based on the interest in the market, “the illusion that stone actually carries,” he said. Lamb has received one email offering $40 million, and some analysts have estimated the 1,111 carat gem to be worth about $66 million. But before a true sense of the gemstone’s value can be established it will have to be examined in person by prospective buyers, he said. That’s because the gemstone is so large that it does not fit into conventional scanners used to evaluate a stone’s potential worth. These state of the art machines evaluate a stone’s clarity, color and internal fractures, and ultimately can determine how to cut a diamond for maximum value.
