We’ve all heard about the most expensive diamond ever sold at an auction. Who wouldn’t be fascinated by owning a diamond that costs millions of dollars, right? Of course, it’s also fantastic to know which diamonds have set records in terms of value.
The market for diamonds is getting bigger and bigger every year. The demand for such merchandise is increasing as more people become interested in this type of jewelry. They don’t believe jewelry looks like a luxury item but more like a piece of art—costly, exclusive, and rare.
What is the most expensive diamond ever bought? What is the rarest diamond ever found? What are the priciest diamonds ever sold at auctions? We’ve scoured the internet to identify these unbelievably-priced diamond pieces, including who bought the most expensive diamond in the world, how much a 102-carat diamond sold for at a Sotheby’s auction, and other interesting facts!
The De Beers Millennium Jewel 4 – $16 million
The De Beers Millennium Jewel 4 was sold at a Sotheby’s auction in London on September 19, 2000. It was sold for $16 million to an anonymous buyer from Dubai. Previously, a private collector bought it at Sotheby’s Geneva Diamonds Magnificent Jewels and Jadeite auction in 2013.
By November 2000, British jeweler Laurence Graff purchased the diamond. The founder of Graff Diamonds then sold it to a private buyer, who resold it to an anonymous Swiss businessman.
One of the most expensive diamonds in the world, the De Beers Millennium Jewel 4 was originally owned by an Indian Maharaja. It was originally priced at $17 million, but since no bids were below this amount, it went for $16 million instead!
The diamond weighed 128.54 carats and is the largest oval-shaped, fancy vivid blue diamond of its kind ever to be discovered. The gem measures 10.2 x 8 x 6.2 mm, has a D color grade, and has a VVS1 clarity grade.
The Wittelsbach Diamond – $21.5 million
The Wittelsbach Diamond or Archduke Joseph Diamond is a flawless, colorless diamond found in India in the mid-1800s. The diamond was originally owned by the ruling family of Bavaria, the Wittelsbachs, and then sold to Archduke Maximilian Joseph of Bavaria in 1872.
This famous jewel resurfaced in 1830 when it was sold at an auction by its new owner, a Russian prince named Demidov. It is the world’s largest cut diamond weighing in at over 76 carats.
It was originally an oval shape and was cut into a cushion-cut in 1908 by the famous New York jewelers Van Cleef & Arpels, who then sold it to King Manuel II of Portugal.
Originally weighing 78.54 carats, Molina Jewelers of Arizona purchased it in the 1990s. It was re-cut to 76.54 carats for enhanced symmetry and clarity. It was last sold in a Christie’s Geneva auction in 2012 for $21.47 million, making it one of the most expensive colorless diamonds ever sold.
Princie Diamond – $39.3 million
The Princie Diamond is a 34.65-carat (4.7 g) pink diamond with a vivid salmon-pink hue. Sotheby’s Geneva auctioned the Princie stone on November 13, 2013 and sold it for $39.32 million to the Nizam of Hyderabad.
The Princie Diamond has a clarity grade of internally flawless and has an intense pinkish color enhanced by its fine cut. It was named after the heir of the state of Hyderabad, Prince Mukkaram Jah, who owned it before he was deposed in 1948 by India’s government.
The diamond was then purchased by an Indian businessman and smuggled out of India to avoid taxes and customs duties. It was later sold to a Hong Kong-based company for $17 million and then resold to Harry Winston for $20 million, who resold it again for $39.3 million in 2013.
The diamond was originally estimated to be worth between $40-50 million. However, it failed to sell because there were no bids above its reserve price of $35 million.
Graff Pink – $46.2 million
The Graff Pink is a 24.78-carat (5.19 g) diamond that was found in South Africa in 1980 and sold to Laurence Graff, who later resold it for $46.2 million at a Christie’s auction in November 2010. This sale set a new world record price per carat for any pink diamond or jewel at auction.
The Graff Pink was cut from a 26.54-carat (5.17 g) rough stone found in South Africa in 1990 by De Beers Consolidated Mines, Ltd. It is the most expensive polished diamond ever sold at auction, although not the most expensive overall.
This stone is a large oval-shaped diamond with a Fancy Vivid Pink color index. It is also the fourth largest fancy intense pink diamond in the world after “The Pink Star” and “The Sunrise Ruby.”
The Blue Moon of Josephine – $48.5 million
What is the rarest diamond ever found? Perhaps it’s the Blue Moon of Josephine. This is a 12.03-carat pear-shaped diamond, with a color grade of fancy vivid blue, clarity grade of internally flawless and cut grade of excellent. It was sold by Sotheby’s in Geneva on November 15, 2015 to an anonymous buyer for $48.5 million, setting the world record price per carat for any blue diamond or jewel on auction.
This vivid blue diamond was discovered in South Africa in January 2008. The gem was cut and polished in India. It was purchased by Joseph Lau, the billionaire owner of multiple jewelry stores in Hong Kong and Macau who also owns the Four Seasons Hotel George V Paris. Lau has been described as an “Asian James Bond” because of his taste for luxury goods and lavish lifestyle.
The Oppenheimer Blue – $57.6 million
The Oppenheimer Blue is a vivid blue diamond weighing 14.62 carats. The gem was mined in South Africa and presented as a rough stone with an estimated value of $45 million in 2014.
It was discovered in 1985 by an anonymous buyer who sold it at auction for $1.1 million to Robert Mouawad, the founder of the luxury jeweler Robert Mouawad. The gem was then sold by Mouawad’s estate in November 2004 for $5 million to Harry Winston Inc., a company owned by its namesake jeweler and former CEO Harry Winston Garfinkel.
This precious blue diamond was then purchased by Laurence Graff, the British billionaire jeweler and owner of Graff Diamonds. He bought it for $57.6 million at an auction held by Sotheby’s in Geneva on November 13, 2009.
The Pink Star – $71.2 million
Finally, the most expensive diamond sold at auctions to date is The Pink Star. This 59.6-carat pink diamond was sold by Sotheby’s for $71.2 million—the most expensive diamond price at auctions to date. Who bought the most expensive diamond in the world? Its celebrated buyer is the New York-based jeweler Isaac Wolf, who gave the winning bid in a 2017 Sotheby’s auction in Hong Kong.
Previously called Steinmetz Pink, this most valuable diamond in the world has Internally Flawless clarity and VVS1 exterior grade. It is considered the largest internally flawless fancy vivid pink diamond ever graded by the Gemological Institute of America.
The Pink Star is also one of the most famous diamonds ever. It was showcased in various high-profile exhibits like the Smithsonian’s “The Splendor of Diamonds,” the “New York Diamond District’s 100th Anniversary Exhibition,” and the Louvre’s “The Pink Star: The Most Famous Diamond in the World” exhibit.
It has also appeared on numerous television programs like Discovery Channel’s “Gold Rush,” BBC’s “Planet Earth II,” and National Geographic Channel’s documentary, “Inside the Cult of Celebrity.”
Indeed, the Pink Star holds the distinction of being the priciest diamond ever sold in an auction. But the legendary Kohinoor most expensive diamond in the world, remains the grandest of all diamonds.
The priciest diamonds are also the most magnificent
So there you have it, seven of the most expensive diamonds ever sold at auctions. From the De Beers Millennium Jewel 4 and the Wittelsbach Diamond to the Oppenheimer Blue to the Pink Star, these high-priced diamonds are among the most coveted jewels ever.
By the way, did you know how much did a 102 carat diamond sell for at a Sotheby’s auction? The large D-color flawless oval diamond was sold for a whopping $15.6 million at Sotheby’s Hong Kong on November 13, 2018! The diamond was purchased by Chow Tai Fook Jewellery Company Ltd., one of the world’s largest jewelers. It was also the first time Sotheby’s had ever sold a diamond over 100 carats.
If you want to know how these precious gems got their price tags, you’ll surely want to read the “8 Factors that Determine How Are Diamonds Priced.”
