The 10 Most Expensive Articles of Jewellery Ever Made

This beautiful piece of jewellery resembles an artist’s rendition on a stained glass window, with all the brightly colored stones blending to form a timepiece that takes a lot of strength to wear. Not only is it worth $25 million dollars, but it is also heavy. The owner of this lovely watch is Karl-Friedrich Scheufele according to Forbes magazine. It is made with eight hundred and seventy-four individual stones and is one of the most expensive diamond wristwatches in the world.

Jadeite is one of the rarest forms of Jade on earth. It is created from mesomorphic rock and intense pressure beneath the earth’s surface, much like diamonds. Ancient axe heads and beads made from Jadeite were discovered in Northern Italy. It is an old stone worthy of belonging to the Cartier Collection of jewellery. Not technically a piece of diamond jewellery, but it has diamonds in the clasp, which makes it a good addition to this list.

It was owned by the daughter of Woolworth’s founder Barbara Hutton, who was a jewellery collector herself owning several pieces of historical jewellery like the Marie Antoinette Pearl Necklace and the Romanov emeralds. She commissioned Cartier’s to add the ruby and diamond clasp that contrasts against the deep green Jadeite beads for a stunning necklace.

The pink diamond owned by Laurence Graff is one of the rarest in the world. It is rated in the top 2 % of all diamonds for its purity by The Gemological Institute of America. This gorgeous stone was previously owned by celebrity jeweler and collector, Harry Winston. Set in white gold surrounded by smaller white diamonds, The Graff Pink is an exquisite 24.78-carat emerald-cut pink diamond ring that would have belonged on the finger of a queen or princess in a royal court. It is one of the most beautiful diamonds in existence.

Another stunningly beautiful diamond ring is the 12.03-carat Blue Moon of Josephine. Like the famous pink diamond, blue diamonds are extremely rare. Only a fraction of all the diamonds that are mined have any color to them. This brilliant stone is a rich, deep blue; like the color of the ocean.

It was auctioned by Sotheby’s for $48.4 million and is currently owned by the daughter of Chinese billionaire Joseph Lau. It was a gift for her and he renamed it after her. It was originally named the Blue Moon Diamond and was discovered in the Cullinan mine in South Africa.

Known as L’Incomparable, this dazzling yellow diamond is the size of an egg. The 407.48-ct gem set in 18-karat gold is considered to be a diamond of flawless condition by The Gemological Institute of America. Besides the large yellow diamond, the rest of the necklace consists of 27 pear-shaped diamonds, 35 round diamonds, and 28 smaller cut assorted diamonds. It is a truly remarkable piece of modern jewellery. The signature stone was discovered by a young girl in the Republic of Congo and is currently on display in Singapore. Previously it has been shown in museums and spent some time at the Smithsonian Institute.

The Oppenheimer Blue Diamond is an emerald-cut, 14.62-carat diamond once owned by Sir Philip Oppenheimer.of the DeBeers Group. It was sold at Christie’s auction house in May 2016 becoming the second most expensive jewel ever sold at auction, the Pink Star diamond was the first. It sold for a cool $57.5 million after 20 minutes of intense bidding.

Blue diamonds are truly rare, as are pink diamonds. Most diamonds are almost completely devoid of any color, except for the prism color displayed when exposed to sunlight. If it were to ever be sold again, this beautiful piece of jewellery would make a diamond engagement ring befitting a queen.

The Pink Star is a 59.60-carat diamond rated for its multifaceted color as Fancy Vivid Pink by the Gemological Institute of America. It is one of the largest diamonds with the rating of Vivid pink. The Pink Star was mined in South Africa in 1999 by the De Beers Group. The stone weighed 132.5 carats before being cut which took 20 months to create the stunning masterpiece. It made its first public appearance in Monaco in May of 2003. It was formerly known as the Steinmetz Pink, named after the Beny Steinmetz Group. It spent some time on display at the Smithsonian and was sold at auction to a privately-owned corporation in Hong Kong in 2017.

The Wittelsbach-Graff Diamond is a brightly-coloured square-cut blue diamond. It originally came from the Kollur mines of India and was a present from King Philip IV of Spain for his daughter’s dowry. The stone changed hands a few times until it became the property of a member of the Wittelsbach family, Charles of Bavaria. It later became the chief stone in a crown made for the King of Bavaria. Years later it was purchased by jeweler Laurence Graff, who re-cut it to remove a few small flaws and later sold it for $80 million to the emir of Qatar. The Gemological Institute of America has rated it as a “Fancy Deep Blue.” It is a brilliant blue diamond with historical value and worth every penny.

This stunning work of art is owned by jeweller Laurence Graff (the King of Diamonds, as he is also known) as part of his collection. The brooch is 120.81 carats and is composed of colored diamonds surrounding a 20.02-carat fancy deep blue pear shape diamond. The feathers of the peacock are yellow, white, blue, and orange diamonds. Graff unveiled this piece at a gathering of art collectors in the Netherlands. In total, it has over 1,305 diamonds and the centre blue diamond can be removed and worn separately. The brooch is a magnificent piece of artistic jewellery created by a master craftsman.

Now for the number 1# most expensive piece of jewellery in the world, the Hope Diamond concludes this list at a price tag of $200 million dollars. A little known fact about the diamond is that it is the true-life piece that was the subject of interest in the movie “Titanic.” Although the pendant worn by actress Kate Winslet in the film was a sapphire, the story about the stone belonging to King Louis XVI and carrying a curse was in reference to the Hope Diamond.

The diamond was stolen twice during its lifetime, and a curse was put on it to cause anyone who possessed it to suffer bad luck. It was owned by 17th-century French merchant, Jean Baptiste-Tavernier, who then sold it to King Louis XVI. Everyone who came in contact with the stone suffered bad luck or untimely death. For the King, his children and grandchildren died young, and the King himself passed away from a terrible infection. It was passed down to his successor and his wife, Marie Antoinette. Of course, everyone knows how that story ends. So maybe there was some truth to the “curse” after all. After many owners and several mysterious deaths, it was finally acquired by the National Museum of Natural History where it resides today.