Top 5 Most Expensive Pieces of Jewelry in the World

Jewelry has played an important role in developing and influencing cultures all around the world. It’s considered to be one of the most timeless creations of mankind. As a result, royalty slowly started valuing various beautiful and rare pieces. The harder it was to mine certain stones; the more value would people give to them. Slowly, but surely, different civilizations started competing between one another trying to make the most expensive jewelry for their ruling classes.

Some succeeded, some failed, but the race for creating the most expensive jewelry in the world never stopped. To this day various companies and influential people seek to get their hands on rare pieces as an indicator of their social status. If you’ve ever wondered what are the most expensive jewelry pieces in the world, you’re in the right place.

5 L’Incomparable Diamond Necklace

L’Incomparable Diamond Necklace is considered to be the most valuable necklace in the world. The necklace combines a flawless yellow diamond the size of an egg sitting on a bed of 18k gold and surrounded by 203 carats of smaller white diamonds. The necklace was sold $55 million and was created by a Lebanese jeweler: Mouawad. Interestingly enough the centerpiece diamond was found in a pile of discarded pile of mining rubble in African Congo in the 1980s.

4 Oppenheimer Blue

In May 2016, Oppenheimer Blue shocked everyone when it was sold for $57.5 million. Up until April of 2017, it was considered to be the most expensive piece of jewelry ever sold at an auction. The diamond is 14.62 carats and its name comes from its previous owner Philip Oppenheimer who got the stone as a gift to his wife.

3 Pink Star

Who broke Oppenheimer Blue’s record in 2017? It was the world’s most famous piece of jewelry: Pink Star. Pink Star 59.6 carat pink diamond that was cut from a 132.5-carat rough diamond. Even if you’re not into jewelry, you have probably heard about this beauty as it’s very popular in the media. The diamond was bought for $71.2 million.

2 Peacock Brooch

Peacock Brooch was released in 2013 by Graff Diamonds during the TEFAF luxury art and antiques fair in the Netherlands. This beautiful art piece is 10 cm in height and contains over a thousand gemstones. The total carat weight of the brooch is 120.81, which justifies the $100 million price. The centerpiece of the jewel is a fancy blue diamond that weight 20.02 carats. Overall, the brooch contains white, yellow, blue and even orange diamonds. Currently, there’s no information regarding the whereabouts and the ownership of the piece.

1 The Hope Diamond

Besides being the most expensive piece of jewelry in the world, the Hope Diamond has a rich cultural and historical significance. Surprisingly enough, the most expensive diamond in the world is currently the smallest it has ever been. It was first bought in 1666 by Jean-Baptiste Tavernier. After that, it was cut and resold in 1668. The new owner of the piece was King Louis XIV who named it French Blue. However, the piece didn’t stay in the royal family for too long as it was stolen in 1792 and cut again. The fancy diamond traveled from the hands of one millionaire to the other before it was finally donated to the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History in 1958. It still remains there as an exhibit and is priced at $250 million.