The Worlds Most Valuable Jewels
Jewellery Collection
The Duchess of Windsor's collection raised £31,380,197 when it was sold at Sotherby's, Geneva, on 3rd April 1987.
The most valuable individual items are two diamond drop earrings of 58.6 and 61 carats, bought and sold anonymously for £3.1 Million at Sotherby's, Geneva, on 14th November 1980.
Diamonds
Many sales of polished diamonds are considered private transactions, and the prices are not disclosed.
A 100.1 carat pear-shaped 'D' Flawless diamond was sold at Sotherby's, Geneva, on 17th May 1995 for £10,507,143 by Sheikh Ahmed Fitaihi, who acquired it for his chain of Jewellery shops in Saudi Arabia.
The highest price on record for a rough diamond is £5.8 Million, for a 255.10 carat stone found in Guinea and purchased by the William Goldberg Diamond Corporation in partnership with the Chow Tai Fook Jewellery Co. Ltd of Hong Kong in March 1989.
Pearl
La Régente, an egg shaped pearl weighing 15.13g was sold for £457,533 at Christie's, Geneva, on 12th May 1988. The gem used to form part of the French crown jewels.
Sapphire
A step-cut 62.02 carat stone was sold as a sapphire and diamond ring at Sotherby's, St Moritz, on 20 Feb 1988 for the sum of £1,581,713.
Emerald
The highest price ever paid for a single lot of emeralds is £1,951,219 for and emerald and diamond necklace made by Cartier, London, in 1937. Consisting of 12 stones weighing a total of 108.74 carats, the necklace was sold at Sotherby's, New York, on 26th October 1989.
The highest price paid for a single emerald is £1,320,488, for a 19.77 carat emerald and diamond ring made by Cartier in 1958, and sold at Sotherby's, Geneva, on 2nd April 1987.
Ruby
On 26th October 1989, a ruby and diamond ring weighing a total of 32.08 carats and made by Chaumet of Paris, was sold at Sotherby's, New York for the sum of £2,926,829 .
The Worlds Most Precious
Largest Diamonds
The largest diamond on record, the Cullinan, weighed 3,106 carats and was discovered on 26th January 1905 at the Premier Diamond Mine, near Pretoria, South Africa. It was cut into 106 polished diamonds and produced the largest cut fine-quality colourless diamond, which weighs 530.2 carats.
Several large pieces of low-quality diamonds have been found, including a carbonado of 3,167 carats discovered in Brazil in 1905.
The largest known single piece of rough diamond that is still in existence weighs 1,462 carats and is retained by De Beers in London.
Largest Cut Diamond
The Golden Jubilee Diamond, purchased from De Beers by a syndicate of Thai businessmen and presented to the King of Thailand on his Golden Jubilee, weighs 545.67 carats. It is now mounted in the Thai Royal Sceptre.
Smallest Brilliant Cut Diamond
A 57 facet stone weighing 0.0000743 carats was fashioned by hand by Pauline Willemse at Coster Diamonds B.V. in Amsterdam, between 1991 and 1994. At 0.16-0.17 mm in diameter and just 0.11 in height, it is smaller than the average grain of sand.
Largest Star Ruby
The Eminent Star ruby is an oval cabochon with a six-ray star. It measures 109x90.5x58 mm and weighs 6,465 carats. Believed to have been discovered in India, it is owned by Kailash Rawat of Eminent Gems Inc., New York.
Largest Cut Emerald
A natural beryl weighing 86,136 carats was found in Carnaiba, Brazil, in August 1974. It was carved by Richard Chan in Hong Kong and was valued at £718,000 in 1982.
Largest Single Crystal
The largest single emerald crystal of gem quality on record was found in 1969 at the Cruces Mine near Gachala, Columbia. It weighs 7,025 carats and is presently owned by a private mining concern.
Largest Star Sapphire
A stone weighing 9719.5 carats was cut in London, in November 1989. It was named the Lone Star and is owned by Harold Roper.
Largest Opal
The largest single piece of white opal of gem quality weighs 26,350 carats and was found in July 1989 at the Jupiter Field at Coober Pedy in South Australia. It has been named
Jupiter Five and is privately owned.
Largest Black Opal...
...A piece of black opal found on 4th Feb 1972 at Lightning Ridge, NSW, Australia, produced a finished gem called the Empress of Glengarry, which weighs 1,520 carats and measures 121x80x15 mm.
Largest Rough Black Opal
The largest uncut black opal of gem quality weighed 1,982.5 carats and was found at Lightning Ridge, NSW, Australia, in November 1986. Named
Haley's Comet, it measured 100x66x63 mm after cleaning.
Largest piece of Jade
A single lens of nephrite jade weighing 577 tonnes was found in the Yukon territory of Canada by Max Rosequist in July 1992. It is owed by Yukon Jade Ltd.
Largest Amber
The Burma Amber, which weighs 15.25kg, is kept in the Natural History Museum, London, UK.
Largest Mass Of Gold
The Holtermann Nugget, a slab slate weighing 235.14kg was found on 19 October 1872 in the
Beyers & Holtermann Star of Hope Mine, NSW, Australia. It contained 82.11kg of gold.
Largest Pure Gold Nugget
The Welcome Stranger, a gold nugget weighing 70.92kg, was discovered at Moliagul, Victoria, Australia, in 1869. It yielded 69.92kg of pure gold.
Largest Platinum Nugget
A nugget weighing 9,635g was found in the Ural Mountains, Russia, in 1843 but was melted down shortly afterwards.
Largest Existing Platinum Nugget
The largest surviving platinum nugget is known as the Ural Giant and weighs 7,860.5g. It is in the custody of the Diamond Foundation in the Kremlin, Moscow.
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