This emerald sold at auction became the most expensive jewel in the world

LUXURY – A new world record This rare 37-carat square emerald mounted on a brooch by Cartier for the Aga Khan was sold for nearly $9 million on Tuesday, November 12. The auction organized at Christie’s in Geneva (Switzerland) thus created a world record for the sale of such a jewel. It was purchased, by an unknown person, for precisely $8,859,865.

The brooch, set with 20 marquise-cut diamonds, which the prince had ordered from Cartier in 1960 and given to his wife Nina Dyer, took the world title from a jewel from the house of Bulgari, which had held it since 2011.

This piece, which like the Cartier jewel can also be worn as a pendant, was given by Richard Burton to Elizabeth Taylor as an engagement gift. The 23.44-carat emerald, also set with diamonds, sold for $6,578,500 during the sale by Christie’s in New York of part of the legendary jewelry collection of one of the largest Hollywood stars.

Emeralds are in fashion

The brooch which was sold on Tuesday on the banks of Lake Geneva had already been part of the first edition of Christie’s “Magnificent Jewels” sale on May 1, 1969, as part of Nina Dyer’s collection. It was the jeweler Van Cleef & Arpels who purchased this exceptional jewel. A few years later, the brooch passed into the hands of Harry Winston, the American jeweler nicknamed “the diamond king”.

Max Fawcett, head of the jewelry department at Christie’s in Geneva, predicted that the jewel would appeal to enthusiasts. “Emeralds are all the rage right now and this one ticks all the boxes”according to the specialist on the auction house’s website, adding that an emerald of this quality does not appear for a sale “only every five or six years”.

“The emerald eextremely thin and flat, making it look like a 50 carat stoneexplains the expert. Flat stones, however, tend to lose their color in the center, but it is a completely uniform green. »

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