Top 10 Costliest Diamonds in the World
It was earlier called the Red Shield Diamond. It
weighs 5.11 carat or 1.022 g with a Trillian cut. It is also the world’s
largest Red Diamond recorded till date. Discovered by a famer in 1990s
this was originally weighed at 13.9 carats or 2.78 g. Red diamonds are
also one of the rarest color of diamond. It was brought and cut by the William
Goldberg Diamond corp and finally bought by an Israeli Jewelry designer, Shlomo
Moussaieff. The Moussaieff are currently the proud owner of this exquisite
diamond. The current estimated value of Moussaieff Re diamond is $20
Million. Moussaieffs are famous for their purchase of antiques and stones they
recently paid $7.98 million for a blue diamond which weighed a 6.04 carat.
9) Perfect Pink $23 Million
Christie’s Hong Kong made a little
bit of history in 2010 by selling a rare ‘Perfect Pink Diamond’.
Although, it was overshadowed by the auction of ‘Graff Pink’ by Sotheby’s
house, which is another rare ‘Pink’ diamond. This 14.23 carat beauty became the
most expensive jewels to be ever sold on Asian grounds. The Pink Diamond
is complemented by two D-Flawless diamonds of 1.73 and 1.67 carats each.
Large Pink diamonds are known for their rarity and remarkable intensity of
color and Perfect Pink shows no trace of secondary color giving it a ‘perfect’
pink look. An anonymous buyer bought this for $23 Million.
8) Cullinan Heritage $35.3 Million
The Honk Kong jeweler from Chow Tai Fook Jewellery
bade for this 507 carat diamond which is the world’s 19thg biggest to be found
till date and bought it for $ 35.3 Million in 2010. Surprisingly the
chicken-egg sized Cullinan Heritage just required a meager amount of $ 250 to
be produced. It finds its place in the world’s top 20 high- quality rough
diamonds. Petra’s Cullinan Mines in South Africa are recorded to have produced
some of the world’ most biggest and expensive diamonds. And it is the highest
sale price ever achieved for a rough diamond and if it is polished it could be
used to produce what will be one of the world’s most important diamonds.
7) Princie Diamond $40 Million
The Princie Diamond is weighed around 34.65 carat or
6.93 g transformed into a beautiful cushion-cut this intense pink diamond was
discovered around 3 centuries back. It is believed to be the third largest pink
diamond to be found in the world after the two most famous Iranian Crown jewels
which are 175 and 60 carat each. Christie’s auction held this is year in April
fetched around $ 39.3 million for it and now its estimated value is more than $
40 Million. Princie Diamond was found it the famous Golconda mines and has a VS
2 clarity which is why it is a particular intense pink color. Originally it
belonged to the Royal family of Hyderabad but then the Nizam had it auctioned
at Sotheby’s in 1960 and was bought by Van Cleef $ apparels. The name Princie
was given in honor of Maharani of Baroda’s 14 year old son and from 1960 it
never saw a public auction until this year. Although expected to garner more
than $ 45 Million dollar it still ended up on a record breaking price of $ 39.3
Million
6) Graff Pink $46 million
Graff Pink is a 24.78 carat rare pink
diamond. It has been described as one of the greatest diamond ever to be
discovered (by harry Winston who is an American Celebrity Jeweler). It is
mounted on a ring and quite mysteriously the origin or date of discovered is
shrouded in assumptions. On 16 November 2010, Sotheby’s auctioned it and
it fetched $ 46 Million thus making it to the top ten lists of most expensive
diamonds ever to be auctioned. It was also the most expensive single jewel
piece to be auctioned till date. Assessed as type IIa Graff Pink has been
placed in one of the top 2% diamonds of the world. Bought by the diamond
dealer Laurence Graff this was rechristened as Graff Pink and is now with the
Graff Diamonds.
5) Wittelsbach Diamond $80 Million
This 31.06 carat fancy deep-blue diamond is known for
its internally flawless clarity. Laurence Graff of Graff Diamonds who also
happens to be the owner of Graff pink has claimed that he had had the diamond
cut by three cutters and now it weighs 4 carat less. The aesthetician has
blamed Graff of grossly compromising on its integrity. With VS 2 clarity this
diamond had been a part of Austrian and Bavarian Jewel Crowns. Often compared
with the Hope diamond it originates from The Golconda Mines and was discovered
in 1600, the original owner was Philip IV of Spain. Sold to Graff in 2008 who
bought it at $ 23.4 Million recut it to remove the damage from the girdle and
the altered diamond was then sold to emir of Qatar, sheik Hamad bin Chalifa for
a staggering $ 80 Million.
4) Centenary Diamond $90 million
Discovered on 17th July 1986 in the Premier
Mine, The De Beers Centenary Diamond weigh at 273.85 carats or 54.77 g and it’s
the third largest diamond that this mine has produced. And for its external as
well as internal clarity it has been rated as Grade D which is the highest for
colorless diamonds. It originally weighed 599 carats or 120 g upon its
discovery thus making it the one of the largest top-color diamonds ever to be
found. Cutting this diamond to its finality was a task requiring immense amount
of expertise and three world renowned diamond cutters along with a mini-army of
engineers, electricians and security guards were invested in it.
3) Steinmetz Pink Diamond $100 Million
Brethren to ‘The De Beers Centenary Diamond’,
Steinmetz Pink Diamond weighs 59.60 carat or 11.9g and has a Fancy Vivid Pink
color. It is also the only known and the largest diamond rated as Vivid – Pink.
It took 20 arduous months for a team of eight people to cut this original 100
carat rough stone into this beautiful diamond in a Mixed Oval Brilliant and was
finally revealed to world in May 2003. It’s mine of origin and date of
discovery however, is unknown. It is the finest pink-diamond in the world
presently and is said to have been discovered in a South African mine.
Currently owned by the Steinmetz Group its estimated value is $ 100
Million.
2) Le Bijou du Roi $250 million
It is what you think it is, the ‘Hope’ Diamond.
Deemed as cursed and believed to be a harbinger of doom for its wearer
(although many believe these superstitions were forged to increase its market
value). Also known as the Taverneir Blue it was found in the Kollur mine, the
date of discovery in unknown however the first owner is believed to be Daniel
Eliason who documented it in his inventory in 1812. Rated as a Type IIb diamond
it weighs 45.52 carat or 9.10 g. Housed in the Smithsonian Natural History
Museum this is perhaps the most famous diamond in the world, also owing its
popularity to the numerous superstitions attached to it.
1) Star of Africa $2 billion
At 3,106.75 carat or 6211.35 g this is the largest gem
quality diamond to have ever been found in the history. It comes from the
Premier mine near Pretoria, South Africa. Being the largest diamond its journey
from the mine of origin to the research lab in England was a huge potential
security problem and a diversionary tactic was used (in case you are interested
you could see it in ocean 12). The Cullinan was so huge that it was cut into 7
major stones and 96 smaller ones. Currently owned by the British crown the
original Cullinan is estimated to be a $ 2 Billion, thus making it the world’s
most expensive diamond.
