As major banks abandon the diamond-trading world, one new lender is preparing to jump in.

Size isn’t everything in the diamond market, especially for the biggest gem found in more than a century and which took a year to sell.

A large, diamond ring is expected to fetch €400,000 at auction 30 years after its owner paid less than €12 for it at a car boot sale, thinking it was a costume jewel.

A diamond the size of a tennis ball which is the largest discovered in more than a century could sell for as much as £50m, according to Sotheby's.

The world of jewels and precious stones is more excited than a child when Harry Potter was first released after the largest diamond in a century was found in Botswana.

Belgian authorities are hoping they have made a major breakthrough in solving a heist of diamonds and gems worth some €40m at Brussels’ international airport two years ago.