DeBeers will make its retailing debut in New York later this week with a display of one of the world's largest, most precious diamonds.

Weighing in at 777 carats, roughly the size of an egg, the Millennium Star, will be on view for the next week, part of the opening ceremonies to christen the new DeBeers LV store at 703 Fifth Avenue, a joint venture between mining giant De Beers and LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton.

Dug up in 1992 by villagers in the Congo, the diamond already has a storied history. It was bought for an undisclosed price by De Beers before a civil war tour up what was then Zaire.

Because the villagers didn't have a bank account, DeBeers paid cash. The villagers promptly buried the money in the ground, where it was partially eaten by insects, explained Andrew Coxon, president of the DeBeers Institute of Diamonds.

The money —"many millions," according to Coxon — has since been dug up and deposited in a foreign bank account for safekeeping.

When the white, pear-shaped flawless stone was finally ready to display in London's Millennium Dome in 2000, after two years of carving, it was the target of jewel thieves, who were thwarted by the British police.

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