The most expensive pieces of jewelry in history
Even the extreme dangers of mining cannot keep people away from the obscure chunks of precious stone that have been considered of the utmost value since the most ancient civilizations. These precious stones, such as diamonds, rubies, emeralds, and jade, have stood the test of time as a symbol of wealth and luxury.
Jewels have passed through the hands of royalty and socialites throughout history, and have even been gifted from one to the next. The demand for these jewels among the rich, royal, and famous causes their monetary value to skyrocket. The following seven pieces of jewelry are among the most expensive in history.
Have you ever been curious about the most expensive jewelry? Keep reading to find out!
THE HOPE DIAMOND IS WORTH $250 MILLION
The Hope Diamond, a 45.52 carat blue stone, is the most expensive and possibly most famous jewel in the world. Experts believe the unusual blue coloration is due to impurities caused by trace amounts of boron atoms.
Aside from its magical appearance, legends about the diamond's bad luck and curses have had the opposite effect, making it a highly sought-after jewel throughout history. The strange luminescence in the diamond may have sparked these legends. When exposed to all light sources, the trace amounts of boron in the stone cause it to glow a startling red.
BROOCH PEACOCK IS WORTH $100 MILLION
The Graff Diamonds Peacock Brooch may not have as much history as the Hope Diamond, but it is still worth around $100 million. It was first shown at the TEFAF art fair in the Netherlands in 2013. The brooch, which is shaped like a peacock with fanned feathers, weighs 120.81 carats and has over 1,300 diamond stones in white, yellow, blue, and orange. A very rare, dark blue pear-shaped diamond totaling 20.02 carats sits in the center.
PINK STAR IS WORTH $71.2 MILLION
The Pink Star diamond weighs 59.6 carats and was cut from a 132.5 carat rough diamond. De Beers, a well-known international diamond mining corporation, mined it in South Africa in 1999. The Pink Star took its current shape after 20 months of cutting. This stone has been graded by the Gemology Institute of America as the largest Internally Flawless, Fancy Vivid pink diamond known to date.
This rare gem was previously known as the Steinmetz Pink, and it was displayed at the Smithsonian Institute as part of the exhibit "The Splendor of Diamonds." It was auctioned off for $71.2 million to Chow Tai Fook Enterprises in Hong Kong in 2017.
OPPENHEIMER BLUE IS WORTH $57.5 MILLION
The Oppenheimer Blue weighs 14.62 carats and is named after Phillip Oppenheimer. It's an emerald-cut vivid blue diamond. The Gemological Institute of America has named this diamond the largest Fancy Vivid blue diamond, which is nearly the same as the Pink Star. In 2016, it was auctioned off for $57.5 million to an unnamed party.
The Oppenheimer diamond's history is largely unknown, aside from the fact that it was mined somewhere in South Africa, most likely in the early twentieth century. Further information is unavailable because it is believed to have come from one of De Beers' mines, and that company has closed its archives.
THE UNIQUE DIAMOND NECKLACE - $55 MILLION
The L'Incomparable Diamond necklace features 407.48 carats of diamonds set on an 18k gold bed. At its heart is the largest known Internally Flawless yellow diamond, the size of an egg. The most valuable necklace in the world is currently owned by Mouawad, a Swiss and Emirati luxury goods company, and was sold for $55 million dollars in 2013.
The large diamond in the necklace's center has an unusual backstory. Around 30 years ago, a young girl in the Democratic Republic of the Congo discovered it by chance in a pile of mining rubble.
JOSEPHINE'S BLUE MOON IS WORTH $48.4 MILLION
This diamond was purchased in 2014 by fugitive Hong Kong billionaire Joseph Lau Luen-hung, a convicted felon. He purchased it for his seven-year-old daughter Josephine, after whom the stone was named. It weighs 12.03 carats and cost the thief $48.4 million, the highest price ever paid per carat for a diamond of any color.
The Blue Moon of Josephine, discovered in 2014, is another South African mined diamond. When Petra Diamonds discovered it in the rough, it was 29.6 carats and hard to miss, with a rare crystal blue color. Its current owner, Lau, was convicted of bribing a former Macau minister that same year.
$27.4 MILLION FOR THE HUTTON-MDIVANI JADEITE NECKLACE
This famous piece of jade jewelry, now owned by the Cartier Collection, is made of 27 graduated jadeite beads and has a clasp of 18k yellow gold, rubies, and diamonds. Its previous owner, American socialite and heiress Barbara Hutton, received the necklace as a wedding gift from her father for her marriage to Georgian Prince Alexis Mdivani in 1933. The necklace was custom-made for Hutton and stayed in the family for five decades, until Hutton died in 1979. Barbara Hutton was the heiress to retail magnate Frank Winfield Woolworth, making her one of the wealthiest women in the world by the age of 21.
Due to the scarcity of jadeite boulders, such high quality jade usually cannot yield beads larger than 10mm in diameter, making the necklace an exceptional piece of jewelry. The Hutton-Mdivani Jadeite necklace is a true rarity, with each bead measuring over 15mm in diameter and all beads carved from the same boulder.
We hope you enjoyed learning more about the world's most expensive jewelry. If you're looking for stunning colored jewelry at a lower price check out Charlie and Co. Jewlery, it has a large selection, including earrings, fine jewelry necklaces, and much more.
