Sierra Leone sells one of the world's largest diamonds

The egg-sized gem known as the "Peace Diamond" was purchased by British jeweler Laurence Graffou. One of the world's largest diamonds ever sold at auction in New York, receiving a lower-than-expected price of $ 6.5 million

The 709-carat World of Diamond is one of the largest ever discovered in West Africa and one of the 20 largest rough gemstones in the world. The yellowish diamond is also one of the largest stones found in mines in southern Africa in recent years.

It was sold to jeweler Laurence Graff, chairman of Graff Diamonds, a UK-based multinational jeweler based in London.

The Sierra Leonean government has pledged half of the proceeds from the auction to be used to fund infrastructure projects for the benefit of the community of the small village where the diamond was discovered.