Nature appears to have impeccable timing — and a sense of humor — when it comes to Alrosa's most unusually shaped rough diamonds. Just as the holiday season approached this year, miners at the Severalmaz processing plant in Russia’s Arkhangelsk region unearthed two remarkable rough diamonds that look uncannily festive: a 17-carat crystal shaped like a Christmas ornament and a 2.7-carat stone that resembles a playful puppy.
The discoveries were made at the M.V. Lomonosov diamond deposit, part of Severalmaz, an Alrosa subsidiary known for producing some of the company’s most visually distinctive stones. The larger crystal’s rounded silhouette and natural symmetry evoke a classic holiday bauble, while the smaller gem’s contours bring to mind floppy ears and a wagging tail.
According to Ilya Zezin, chief geologist at Severalmaz, there is a geological explanation behind these fanciful forms. The Arkhangelsk deposit consists of six kimberlite pipes containing more than 250 million tons of diamond-bearing ore. Diamonds from this region often display unusual morphological features, including rounder shapes and a higher number of natural facets than stones from other deposits.
“Severalmaz’s mining operations are distinguished by the discovery of diamonds of rare shapes and colors,” Zezin explained, noting that these crystals are valued not only for their scientific significance but also for their aesthetic appeal. In other words, the geology itself encourages diamonds to grow with softer outlines and unexpected personalities.
This isn’t the first time the Lomonosov deposit has delivered stones that seem perfectly timed to the calendar. Earlier in 2024, miners recovered a rough diamond shaped like a Christmas tree. In 2023, the same deposit produced the 38-carat “Cloudberry” diamond, named for its resemblance to the northern berry. And in 2022, a nearly 40-carat gem-quality diamond emerged with wings spread wide, unmistakably butterfly-shaped.
That sense of coincidence will sound familiar to our longtime readers. In 2019, we wrote about Alrosa's now-famous “Matryoshka” — a diamond encased within another diamond.
That same roundup included rough stones resembling a soccer ball, a skull, a fish, and a Valentine heart. Remarkably, many of those discoveries surfaced at fitting moments: a soccer-ball diamond just days before Russia’s dramatic World Cup match in 2018, a heart-shaped diamond revealed ahead of Valentine’s Day in 2019 and a skull-shaped stone unearthed just before Halloween.
Whether coincidence or cosmic choreography, Alrosa’s unusual diamonds continue to blur the line between geology and whimsical storytelling. This month, Mother Nature knew exactly when to deliver a little extra holiday sparkle.
Credits: Diamond images courtesy of Alrosa Diamonds and via Alrosa/Instagram.