From deep blues, to stunning reds, here are
10 of the rarest and most expensive diamonds
in the world!
10.
The Heart of Eternity ($16 million)
The stone that was made into the heart of
Eternity Diamond was found at the world’s
largest supplier of blue diamonds, the South
African Premier Diamond Mine.
Blue diamonds are incredibly rare with, on
average, only one being found every year,
and this one was an amazing find.
The rough stone was 777 carats when it was
dug up, and the owners waited until they had
the perfect design idea before they started
cutting it.
The result was The Millenium Blue Diamonds-
a series of heart, pear drop and oval shaped
diamonds of which the Heart Of Eternity is
the largest.
In recent years it has been on tour at various
exhibitions, including at the Millennium exhibition
in London in 2000, followed by the Smithsonian
museum.
It was reportedly bought in 2012 by Floyd
Mayweather to give to his fiancée, but no
details of the selling price were ever revealed.
The $16 million price tag is an estimate based
on its size and color, but the finished piece
could be worth far more when you consider
what a rare piece it is.
9.
The Moussaieff Red Diamond ($20 million)
Diamonds come in many colors, but red ones
are particularly rare.
According to the Cape Town Diamond Museum
there have only been up to 30 true red diamonds
ever found, with most of them being less than
half a carat.
A farmer in Brazil found the rough stone that
was to become the Moussaieff Red Diamond in
the 90’s.
At a weight of 13.90 carats it immediately
became the center of attention.
The William Goldberg Diamond Corporation from
New York then bought it, and decided to cut
it into a triangular brilliant cut.
This process would mean losing 8.79 carats,
but the resulting cranberry colored 5.11 carat
gem is simply stunning.
It was originally named the Red Shield, but
was renamed by the Moussaieff Jewelers when
they purchased it for about $8 million at
the turn of the century.
This diamond has regularly been to exhibitions,
being shown alongside other ones in the Smithsonian.
Were it to be sold, it would be expected to
cost at least $20 million.
8.
The Perfect Pink ($23 million)
When it sold for $23 million in 2010, the
Perfect Pink Diamond was the most expensive
jewel that had ever been sold in Asia.
It weighs 14.23 carats, is graded as fancy
intense pink, and is set in a rose and white
gold ring with rectangular shaped diamonds
on either side.
Pure Pink diamonds of more than 10 carats
are very unusual, with only 18 examples having
gone to auction in the past 244 years; none
of which was classified as intense pink at
the time of sale.
This makes the Perfect Pink a truly unique
piece, and explains why it sold for ten million
dollars more than had been expected.
7.
The Wittelsbach Diamond ($23.4 million)
The first records of the Wittelsbach Diamond
come from back in the 17th century when it
was sold to Louis XIV of France.
It has a rare blue color, and weighs 35.56
carats.
The stone has a royal history, having been
passed down through families since the 1600’s.
It went from France, to Spain, and over to
Germany, where it accompanied the German King
Louis III to his burial place in 1921.
At some point in the 30’s it was sold to
raise money for the German government, and
from here things get mysterious.
No one seemed to know who had bought it, and
it somehow got replaced with a piece of blue
glas in the museum.
Rumors of the actual diamond changing hands
were rife in the following decades, until
1962 when it reappeared at a jewelery store
in Belgium.
It was sold in 2008 for $23.4 million and,
to the dismay of diamond historians, the new
owner decided that it should be recut, since
it had originally been done in the early 1600’s.
The resulting stone, now 21.06 carats, meant
that both the color and quality were improved,
and the estimated price sky-rocketed.
6.
The Oppenheimer Blue Diamond ($57.5 million)
The Oppenheimer Blue Diamond broke records
at the time in 2016 for being the most expensive
jewel that has ever been sold at auction,
as well as the largest fancy vivid blue diamond
that has ever been offered for sale.
Named after its previous owner, Sir Philip
Oppenheimer, the diamond weighs in at 14.62
carats, and is set in a platinum ring with
trapeze shaped diamonds on either side.
Its clarity is graded as one step below internally
flawless, which also helped it break the record
for the “per-carat” price.
So remarkable is the color of this gem that
it has been graded as fancy vivid, which is
a term used to describe diamonds that are
medium to dark in tone, and strong in saturation.
Only 1% of blue diamonds are fancy vivid and,
with blue diamonds being unusual in the first
place, this one truly is one of a kind.
5.
The Pink Star ($71.2 million)
The Pink Star Diamond went to auction in April
of 2017, just last week at the time of this
video, and smashed its estimate of $60 million
dollars.
It sold for just over $71 million.
It became the most expensive diamond that
has ever been sold- overtaking the Oppenheimer
Blue Diamond by over 13 million.
The pink diamond weighs an impressive 59.60
carats, and is the largest internally flawless
fancy vivid pink diamond that has ever been
graded by the Gemological Institute of America.
The original rough stone weighed 132.5 carats
when it was mined by De Beers in Africa in
1999.
It took two years of planning, cutting, and
polishing to make it into its current oval
shape, a process that shaved off over 70 carats!
The identity of the new owner of this beautiful
piece is being kept a secret, but the sheer
size of it means it’ll be tough to keep
under wraps if they ever wear it out.
4.
The Centenary Diamond ($100 million)
The Centenary Diamond was discovered in De
Beers’ Premier Mine in 1986 with the assistance
of cutting edge x-ray technology.
The rough stone weighed 599 carats, which
makes it the third largest diamond to have
ever been found there, and it was graded as
being internally and externally flawless.
It took 154 days for a specialist team to
hand cut the stone into the stunning modified
heart shape design.
They created a special underground room in
Johannesburg which controlled the temperature
and vibrations to minimize the chances of
any mistakes.
It was completed in 1991 with 247 facets-
164 of which are on its pavilion and crown,
and 83 on its girdle, and ended up at a weight
of 273.85 carats.
The diamond has been on display at the Tower
of London for a number of years, but the true
owner is not actually known.
It has never been put up for sale in a public
auction, so it’s tough to estimate its actual
value- but at the time of unveiling in 1991
it was insured for $100 million dollars.
3.
The Hope Diamond ($200+ million)
The hope diamond is one of the most famous
jewels in the world, having changed hands
between owners in India, France, England and
America in the past four centuries.
It has also become synonymous with bad luck
and thought to be cursed.
The stone weighs 45.52 carats, and is the
largest deep blue diamond in the world.
The color is described as a magnificent sky-blue,
and it emits a red glow.
The first records that mention it come from
back in 1668 when King Louis the fourteenth
of France, a renowned diamond collector, bought
it.
It went missing a century later in the chaos
surrounding the French revolution, and reappeared
in London in 1812.
After being sold on to various owners in the
following years, it made its way over to America
when it was purchased by an American heiress
called Evalyn Walsh McLean.
Wanting to make the diamond even more special,
this is when it was put into its current setting
– surrounded by 16 white diamonds and hanging
on a chain made with 45 diamonds.
There are numerous stories of owners beset
by misfortune over the years.
The French merchant, who supposedly originally
took the stone from the eye of a Hindu idol
in India and returned it to France where he
sold it to the king, was apparently mauled
to death by dogs.
King Louis XVI and his wife Marie Antoinette
were beheaded in the French revolution, and
Evalyn McLean had a miserable life after buying
the diamond, with her son being killed in
a car crash, her daughter committing suicide,
her husband leaving for another woman, and
she, herself, ending up in an asylum.
It was acquired by the Smithsonian museum
in 1958, where it remains, and despite it
never having been sold on the open market,
to give an idea of its value, it is currently
thought to be insured for around $250 million.
It would be expected to go for even more than
that if it ever was to be put up for sale.
The curse of the diamond luckily hasn’t
seemed to have affected the museum.
2.
The Cullinan I ($400 million)
The Cullinan Diamonds, also known as the star
of Africa, all originate from one stone that
was found at the Premier mine in South Africa,
and weighed a mighty 3,106.75 carats (about
1,369 lbs)!
At the time, this was twice the size of any
other diamond that had ever been found anywhere.
It was named after the owner of the mine where
it was found, Sir Thomas Cullinan, and was
soon given to the British King Edward VII
as “a token of the loyalty and attachment
of the people of Transvaal to his throne and
person”.
It was sent to the Asscher Brothers of Amsterdam
who separated it into three segments, and
later was divided into nine large stones,
and 96 smaller fragments.
Of these cuts, the Cullinan I stone is by
far the largest, most valuable, and most prestigious.
Often referred to as the Great Star of Africa,
it weighs 530,2 carats and has been cut into
a pear shape.
If you have seen the British crown jewels,
then this diamond might look familiar- it’s
the one that is set in the head of the Scepter
with the Cross.
It is also removable so it can be worn separately.
While the Cullinan I has never been on public
sale, it’s thought to be worth in excess
of $400 million dollars- with the entire Cullinan
set being valued at over $2 billion dollars.
1.
The Koh-i-Noor ($1+ billion)
This is another diamond that hasn’t ever
been available for public sale but, because
of it’s notoriety and history, is thought
to be worth over one billion dollars.
Known as the Koh-i-Noor, which is Persian
for “Mountain of Light”, this 105.6 carat
diamond is a part of the British Crown Jewels;
set in the Crown of Queen Elizabeth.
It is only ever worn by women, because is
thought to be unlucky for men.
There is much controversy surrounding this
diamond as to its ownership.
Some think this diamond was first found by
humans over 5000 years ago, with it being
referred to as the Syamantaka jewel in Sanskrit
writings, but the first confirmed record dates
back to 1526 when it was in the possession
of the Indian conqueror, Babur.
For the next three hundred years it regularly
changed hands between various Indian and Perisan
leaders as they fought each other, but was
gifted to Queen Victoria in 1850 as a peace
offering.
After failing to impress at the Great Exhibition
in 1851, the rose-cut diamond was re-cut into
an oval brilliant shape, and has been a part
of the crown jewels ever since.
The Indian authorities have long demanded
the return of the diamond- that they see as
having been stolen from them during colonial
times.
The Brits reject these allegations, though,
claiming that it was given to Queen Victoria
by an Indian king.
Unsurprisingly this response has not satisfied
those that think it should be returned, so
the dispute over its ownership continues.
Thanks for watching!
Remember to subscribe and click right here
for more videos!
See you soon!
Byeee!
