These 5 Blue Diamonds Are Up for Sale

By Michelle Graff
michelle.graff@nationaljeweler.com

Petra Diamonds recovered these five blue diamonds from the Cullinan Mine earlier this fall. They’re being sold individually or as a set via a tender that’s set to close Nov. 24.

October 28, 2020

London—Petra Diamonds Ltd. is selling the five blue diamonds it recovered from the Cullinan Mine in a single week earlier this fall.

The London-based mining company announced last week that it will offer the diamonds via a special tender process that includes live viewings in three key diamond centers. Bidding is set to close in late November.

The five diamonds are: 9.61, 11.42, 17.57, 21.25 and 25.75 carats, and all are Type IIb. The rare stones were all found in the same week in September.

Interested parties can place bids on individual stones or the entire collection.

Collectively, Petra has dubbed the diamonds the Letlapa Tala Collection. Letlapa tala means “blue rock” in Northern Sotho (commonly known as Pedi), the main language spoken in the area of South Africa where the Cullinan Mine is located.

Petra announced the special tender on Oct. 21, the day after it announced it was giving up on finding a buyer and handing itself over to its lenders in a debt-for-equity restructuring. Once approved, the restructuring will mean debtholders will own 91 percent of the mining company.

The Letlapa collection is currently on view now through Nov. 1 in Antwerp. It will be in Hong Kong from Nov. 5-10, and in New York from Nov. 16-20.

The tender will close at 3 p.m. GMT on Nov. 24. (All dates subject to slight change due to logistical challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic.)

Appointments to see the Letlapa Tala Collection can be made by contacting Greg Stephenson, Petra’s head of sales and marketing, at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or +27 836 379 849.