Although they are all extracted from the Earth, not all diamonds are identical. Diamonds have fascinated gemologists and continued to break price records over the years. What are the priciest diamonds, then? The top 10 most costly diamonds to date are shown here.
Diamonds are formed when carbon is subjected to extreme pressure and heat at a depth of 500 km beneath the Earth’s crust, where they are frequently more than 3 billion years old.
Even though some of the most famous diamonds in the world are regarded as valuable, these historically sought-after jewels have never been sold. Furthermore, some haven’t even undergone recent evaluations, which might have provided information about their expected cost. Others, mainly pink and blue diamonds, have fetched record bids at international auctions.
Here are the 10 most expensive diamonds in the world:
Koh-i-Noor Diamond
The renowned Koh-i-Noor is the most expensive & the best diamond in world.
The stone is the most well-known precious diamond in the world and goes by the name Koh-I-Noor, which means “Mountain of Light.” It was once 793 carats in weight but has since been trimmed and polished into the 105.6-carat stone it is now.
This is now in the British’s possession. It is the center stone of the Queen Mother’s crown. Since 1849, only women have been allowed to wear the Kohinoor diamond due to the widespread belief that it is cursed because so many of its male owners unexpectedly lost their power or died.
The Cullinan Diamond
The Cullinan diamond, discovered in South Africa in 1905 and initially weighed 3,106 carats, was the biggest raw diamond ever. However, it now consists of 105 gems of various weights and cuts.
The world’s most spectacular diamond, The Cullinan, was given this name in honour of the mine’s chairman, Thomas Cullinan. According to market estimates, the stone is worth $400 million.
Along with several smaller cuts, the diamond has nine larger chunks that weigh over 1,055 carats together.
With a weight of 530.20 carats, the largest stone, called Cullinan I, is the largest clean-cut diamond worldwide.
The Hope Diamond
The Hope Diamond was purchased by King Louis XIV in 1668 and is thought to have been found in India in the 1600s.
Following a theft of the crown jewels in 1791, this 45.52 carats Fancy Dark Gray-Blue ancient cushion cut diamond was discovered in London in 1839.
When Harry Winston bought this diamond in 1949 and donated it to the Smithsonian Institution, it attracted many visitors.
De Beers Centenary Diamond
The third largest diamond to be discovered in the Premier Mine, South Africa, is this enormous 273.85 carats gem. The De Beers Centenary Diamond was found in South Africa’s Premier Mine in 1986, but it wasn’t until the company’s 100th-anniversary celebration in Kimberley that its existence was made public. This is how Centenary acquired its name.
It was one of the largest top-colour diamonds in the world, weighing 599 carats. The Centenary was then reduced in size to create a 273.85 carats heart-shaped stone with 247 precisely matched facets. The GIA verified the diamond as internally and externally flawless, with a D colour rating for colourless diamonds.
CTF Pink Star Diamond
The largest vibrant pink diamond in the world is an oval-shaped, internally flawless gem. In 1999, De Beers mined it in Africa. At the time, the stone weighed 132.5 carats. It took professionals more than two years to cut and polish it into a 59.60-carat diamond.
In 2003, it made its public debut in Monaco. It was referred to as the Steinmetz Pink diamond at the time.
A city-based jewellery company purchased the Pink Star for USD 71.2 million in April 2017 at a Hong Kong auction. In honour of his father, the jewellery’s owner changed the name to CTF Pink S
The Regent Diamond
Watch out for The Regent Diamond if you visit The Louvre in Paris. The Regent, a cushion-shaped gemstone weighing 140.64 carats, is internally faultless. Rumour has it that an enslaved person at India’s Kollur Mine found the spectacular diamond around 1698.
The diamond was later purchased in 1717 by Philippe II, Duke of Orleans, the French Regent. It was used to ornament Louis XV’s coronation crown in 1722, and Marie Antoinette later used it to adorn a hat.
The Oppenheimer Blue Diamond
The Oppenheimer Blue broke the previous record for the highest price ever paid for a jewel at auction when it was sold in May 2016. In April 2017, the Pink Star Diamond broke that record.
It was the biggest modern-cut diamond known at its 1991 announcement. The Centenary has never been appraised, but before it was put on display in 1991, it was insured for $100 million. Its current whereabouts are unknown because no one knows the diamond’s owner.
The Blue Moon of Josephine Diamond
In January 2014, 12.03 carats blue moon was discovered in South Africa. The diamond was then found in the Cullinan mine as a 29.6-carat rough cut by a business. This perfect blue diamond fetched US$48.4 million at auction in November 2015.
The 12.03-carat diamond was the most expensive item ever to have been sold at an auction at the time.
Billionaire Joseph Lau bought it for his daughter. He renamed it “Blue Moon of Josephine” in the honor of his daughter.
The Graff Pink Diamond
The Graff, a rare 24.78 carats vivid pink diamond, is so named in honour of Laurence Graff, who bought it during a 2010 sale.
Graff decreased the ring’s carat weight from 24.78 carats to 23.88 carats and had 25 minor natural flaws corrected. As a result, the stone’s interior clarity became immaculate, and its hue transformed from intense to bright.
The diamond’s past is not entirely established. Before Graff, it belonged to American jeweller Harry Winston, who sold it to an unidentified bidder in the 1950s.
The Princie Diamond
The Princie is one of the most famous pink diamonds in the world; therefore, it should come as no surprise that it is also one of the most expensive.
In 2013, it was sold for US$39.3 million in an auction in New York.
The 34.65-carat Princie diamond, like many other extremely precious diamonds, was mined in the Golconda region. It was found in India about 300 years ago, claims Christie. The Nizam of Hyderabad, who Time magazine dubbed the richest man in the world in 1937, was one of its owners.
The diamond was given its name in honour of Maharani Sita Devi’s son, the Prince of Baroda.
The ten most expensive diamonds ever sold in public auction are listed here. Hope you enjoyed reading this. These are among the rarest & most brilliant diamonds ever found in the world.
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FAQs
The Kohinoor is the most expensive diamond in the world.
The Kohinoor costs upto 400 million dollars.
Pink diamonds do exist and are among the rarest stones available.
