Australia's Largest Diamonds On Sale

Published on 18/08/08

The biggest pair of diamonds ever to come out of an Australian mine is on sale in a Sydney jeweller's.

According to the Sydney Morning Herald, the gems have been made into diamond stud earrings and are priced at $550,000 (£256,000).

They are measured at seven carats each, with the previous biggest examples being only two carats each.

The princess cut diamond earrings will be on-sale in Australia until September 12th, when they will go to a jewellery fair in Hong Kong if they are not sold.

"Some people would buy these as an investment, some people will buy them for the fact that they have a unique historical setting and some people will buy them because they are fabulous diamonds," said jewellery shop owner Julian Farren-Price.

It is the rarity of diamonds which makes them so valuable. Only 50 per cent of the diamonds mined today are of gem quality and even fewer are big enough to be made into jewellery.

A three-carat diamond can cost up to seven times more than a one-carat example, with only one diamond in a thousand weighing over one carat.