In essence, the story of the Peace Diamond is not merely about a rare gemstone.
It is a testament to the power of integrity, leadership, collaboration, and collective vision to create lasting change.
It is a lesson of what humanity is, or of what it can be.
THE DAY
It is quite a remarkable story.
The Peace Diamond was discovered by a team of five artisanal diggers near the village of Koryardu on March 13, 2017. It is more than appropriate to say it was good day.
Imagine the excitement of finding a 709-carat diamond! To visualize its importance, it stands as the world's 14th largest, about the size of a small mango or a large kiwi.
Miners are driven by hope. They work extremely hard each day, sometimes going for months without finding anything, yet they show up every day with this hope. You cannot fake it when doing this kind of hard labor. You must truly believe it. I have the utmost respect for their drive, hard work, and especially the fair price they deserve for this.
PASTOR MOMOH
At the center of this narrative is Pastor Emmanuel Momoh, the financial supporter of the digger team. He immediately faced numerous offers to smuggle the diamond. Obviously, smugglers don’t offer fair price value and abuse the fact that the miners don’t know the market value. Yet, Pastor Momoh remained resolute and fought to sell it through official government channels.
At heart, he wanted the benefits to be equitably shared among his village, Koryardu, district, Kono, and the people of Sierra Leone.
I was fortunate to meet and spend time with Pastor Momoh during the Rapaport Trade Mission 2024. He explained how difficult it was to convince the chiefs of the village to bring the diamond to the government. He negotiated and fought for several days in order to convince them that this was the direction that would benefit the most.
I was inspired, touched, and admirative of his drive and vision for doing what is right, not for him, but for his community.
Thank you, Pastor Momoh, for this life lesson.
RAPAPORT
The government needed support to sell this diamond from an independent respected entity with worldwide recognition. They reached out to the Rapaport Group to conduct a transparent and competitive auction process.
Recognizing the immense benefit the diamond would bring to the people of Sierra Leone and the legitimacy it would lend to artisanal diamond distribution channels, Martin Rapaport, Ezi Rapaport, and The Rapaport Group invested a
considerable amount of time, energy, network, people, and services free of
charge.
In case you are not familiar with the “diamond world”, the Rapaport Group delivers The Rapaport Price List every Friday, establishing diamond prices in all major markets based on offer and demand.
Obtaining the right market price for this diamond aligns with the core values of the group.
6.5 MILLION $
THE SIERRA LEONE PEACE DIAMOND WAS SOLD TO THE HOUSE OF GRAFF FOR 6'536'360 $
The story might sound simple and straightforward here, but it was actually a challenging journey involving the effort of numerous individuals who aligned and invested all their energy in a common vision.
By following official channels, the sale of the Peace Diamond has transformed thousands of lives, each deserving detailed explanation in its own article.
Martin Rapaport: “I believe in the positive energy of the Peace Diamond and the great good it will do for the people of Sierra Leone. The lucky buyers of the Peace Diamond and the resultant polished Peace Diamonds can take pride in knowing that they have created a better life for tens of thousands of people. This is a diamond that makes the world a better place. This is a diamond with spiritual sparkle.”
A sincere thank you to Martin Rapaport, Ezi Rapaport, and Sathi Nair for their mentorship and for organizing the Sierra Leone Trade Mission.
