Humans have been creating and wearing jewellery for thousands of years. The oldest piece of jewellery would be beads made from Nassarius shells, that are now 100,000-years-old. Jewellery holds different meanings to people - for some it is a form of expression, like an engagement ring is a symbol of love, but to some, jewellery is viewed as decorative art.
Here we look at some of the most expensive pieces of jewellery ever made. The list is dominated by mutli-million dollar creations from high society and top jewellery houses across the globe. From extravagant necklaces to studded bracelets, there is a little bit of everything.
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10. The Perfect Pink- $23.2 million
Pink diamonds are very rare, but diamonds with pure colouring are even more rare. The superb 18K rose and white gold ring, features a 14.23 carat, emerald- cut fancy intense pink diamond, with additional flanked by emerald- cut diamonds on either side. Auctioned off by Christie's after an intense bidding war, the winning bid smashed the world record, making the ring the most expensive piece of jewellery sold in Asia.
Image Source: The Jewellery Editor
9. The Winston Blue- $23.8 million
The Winston Blue is the largest blue diamond in the world, coming in at a total of 13.22 carats. The huge flawless vivid blue diamond was bought by Harry Winston in 2014, later auctioned off at Christie's in Geneva set in a ring. The ring features the Winston Blue flanked on either side by a pear-shaped diamond, approximately a carat each.
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8. 201-Carat Chopard Watch- $25 million
This encrusted watch features diamonds of various sizes and colours, with the largest coming in at 15 carats. Buried with 874 diamonds, the watch even has a mechanism that allows three of the largest diamonds to move apart to unveil the dial underneath.
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7. The Hutton-Mdivani Necklace- $27.4 million
This particular piece of jewellery has been in the possession of many famous people over the years. Some of the notable wearers include Woolworth heiress Barbara Hutton and Princess Nina Mdivina. The stunning Cartier creation is composed of a string of 27 emerald jadeite beads, with a platinum and gold clasp embedded with rubies and diamonds.
Image Source: jewelsdujour.com
6. The Sunrise Ruby- $30 million
The Sunrise Ruby is a rare Burmese ruby weighing 25.59 carats, mounted by Cartier. Its exceptional size and 'pigeons blood' colouring drove an intense bidding war; setting a world record for a ruby sold at an auction after it was sold for $30 million. The Sunrise Ruby also broke the world auction record for the price-per-carat of any ruby, along with becoming the most expensive Cartier jewel ever auctioned.
Image Source: Forbes
5. The Fascination- $42 million
Listed as one of the most versatile pieces of jewellery, the watch is one of Graff's most extravagant and costly creations ever made. The Fascination is a one-of-a-kind bracelet-cum-watch encrusted with 152.96 carats of Graff's finest diamonds. The watch comes with a central 38.13 carat pear shaped flawless diamond that can be also be placed into a tailor-made shank and then worn as a ring.
Image Source: Graff
4. The Graff Pink- $46.2 million
The Graff Pink is a rare 24.78 carat fancy intense pink diamond, once owned by Harry Winston. In addition to its rare colouring, the diamond is said to be 'one of the greatest diamonds ever discovered'. The diamond is a cushion-cut stone, mounted in rose gold with a platinum band embedded with baguette diamonds.
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3. L'Incomparable- $55 million
The L'Incomparable necklace, created by Mouawad, is a necklace that has broken a couple of world records. The necklace holds the record for being the most valuable necklace in the world, featuring the world's largest internally flawless diamond, the 407.48 carat Incomparable diamond. In addition to the massive yellow diamond, the necklace is set with a total of 203 carats of smaller diamonds.
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2. The Pink Star- $72 million
The Pink Star is an oval Fancy Vivid Pink mined in South Africa by DeBeers. The diamond weighs a whopping 59.60 carat. Prior to the sale of the diamond, the Graff Pink held the record for the most expensive diamond ring sold at an auction. However, according to Forbes magazine, the auction price has so far not been settled by the buyer, due to which the diamond has been added back to the Sotheby's inventory.
Image Source: wync.org
1. The Wittelsbach-Graff Diamond- $80 million
The Wittelsbach- Graff diamond is an oval 31.06 carat Internally Flawless deep-blue diamond. The diamond was initially a part of both the Austrian and Bavarian crown jewels. After being purchased in 2008 for $23.4 million by jeweller Laurence Graff, the diamond was surrounded by controversy, because Graff started altering the diamond; removing nearly 4.5 carats. The move however ended up enhancing its clarity and value. The diamond was later sold to a member of the Qatari royal family for $80 million.
From the jewellery that's making history to those lost in time, learn about their fascinating stories with The Ornamentalist.
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