ranked #8 out of 11 diamonds	rated 3.73 out of 5	total 51 votes

The Millennium Star

The Millennium Star is a blue diamond with the shape of a teardrop (or a pear) and weighs 204.04 carats. It is the second largest faceted D-Flawless diamond with perfect proportions in the world. The largest diamond is the Centenary diamond with 273.15 carats. The Millennium Star was cut from a rough diamond of magic 777 carats.

The original diamond was found in Zaire in 1990 and was purchased by De Beers. The cutters of the De Beers Group needed three years to perfect the classic shape of the diamond with 54 facets. Many plastic models of the rough diamond were created in order to plan the optimal cut of the stone. Laser technolgoy was used to cut the diamond.

The Millennium Star was on display for the public in London for the first time in 1999. When the diamond was displayed in the Millennium Dome in 2000 thieves tried to steal the diamonds with bulldozers, but failed.

We can only speculate about the price of the Millennium Star. Some blue D-Flawless diamonds were sold at auctions for $550,000-$580,000 per carat. The Millennium Star is considered to be worth even more.

Actress Sophie Marceau had the honor to present the Millennium Star.