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It's always been said that diamonds are a girl's best friend. The price that some have paid to own some of the most beautiful diamonds in the world would imply that the old adage is true. Natural diamonds are aged billions of years and are created at depths of up to 155 miles in the Earth’s mantle.
The price of a diamond isn’t simply based on its size. Available in a wide variety of sizes and colors, diamonds can sometimes be flawed with defects and impurities. This directly affects the value of the stones. A popular stone in the jewelry industry, here is a list of the top ten most expensive diamond earrings.
Cartier Nouvelle Vague Earrings ($5k - $79k)
Paris has always been a contender when it comes to fashion and this Paris-based jewelry designer is one of the most recognized names in the diamond industry. Cartier was founded in 1847 and boasts a long history of creating jewelry pieces for royal figures.
This pair was released in the ’90s and are crafted of 18 kt white gold with the round-cut diamonds firmly set in. Visually appealing, the earrings look lightweight and sophisticated. They could easily be worn with any everyday outfit. As reported by ReportGlobe, one particular set cost north of $50k, but a more "affordable" pair could easily fetch $20k.
Diamond And Pearl Danglers ($1.2M - $1.5M)
How far are people willing to go to discover the most exquisite diamonds in the world? The diamonds in this pair of danglers are highly coveted because of their place of origin, the Golconda mines in India. The mines are located in what is known today as the Telangana and Andhra Pradesh states of India. The earrings are crafted of 6 carats of diamond stones and each earring houses a pearl.
At an auction, the Golconda diamond and pearl danglers fetched over a million dollars. Apparently, when it comes to purchasing diamonds, the rule of real estate applies. Value is attached to its location, location, and - yes - location. Diamond and Pearl pendants selling for an insane amount is hardly a one-time thing, as a single Pearl fetched over $1.45 million in 2017. Admittedly, it used to belong to Zsa Zsa Gabor.
Diamond And Pearl Earrings ($2.3M)
The diamond drop earring is a popular style because it is simultaneously simple and classy. Founded in 1766, Christie’s is a popular New York auction house. It is known for making record-breaking sales and showcasing some of the rarest pieces in the world, from over eighty categories, including; jewelry, art, and fashion.
Annually, various name brand auction houses head to Geneva for arguably the biggest event in jewelry. In 2013, Gina Lollobrigida's earrings were sold for a record-breaking price (at the time). A buyer purchased the actress' pair of diamond earrings for more than two million dollars.
Diamond And Emerald Drop Earrings ($2.5M)
It isn’t a surprise that beautiful people love to wear beautiful things. This is especially true for celebrities. The red carpet requires the famous to look their best, from head to toe, especially at exclusive events. In 2009, Angelina Jolie didn’t disappoint the fashion critics when she walked the red carpet at the Academy Awards adorned in a pair of Lorraine Schwartz designed earrings.
The price tag on the emerald and diamond drop-style earrings is a whopping $2.5M. Of course, that’s nothing for the likes of Ms. Jolie. Still, we can be certain that security was definitely on guard that night.
Diamond Pendant Earrings ($4.1M - $4.8M)
Harry Winston gained recognition with his donation of the Hope Diamond to the Smithsonian in 1958. He’d been holding on to the fabled stone for nearly a decade. He set his name in the history books when he acquired Arabella Huntington’s collection, one of the largest in the world at the time. His jewels are well known around the globe.
A pair of Harry Winston diamond pendant earrings were showcased at an auction in Hong Kong, hosted by Sotheby’s. The bidding started at $4.1 million and was expected to reach as high as $4.8 million. The selling price is unknown but the starting bid alone earns this pair a place on the list.
Diamond Drop Earrings From The House Of Harry Winston ($50k - $8.5M)
Ooops, he did it again! Another pair of Harry Winston’s jewels make the list at nearly twice the price of the previous. Winston’s remarkable Diamond Drop Earrings, priced at $8.5 million is regarded as one of the most coveted and costly pairs in the world. This pair can be purchased at the House of Winston in Beverly Hills, California.
Designed in 2006, the pear-shaped, diamond earrings weigh nearly 60.1 carats combined. Though the name made the jewelry famous, they were created three decades after his passing. It's safe to say that the House of Winston will be relevant to the jewelry industry for years to come. While most may not fetch quite a high price, a standard Winston earring will cost around $50k.
Golconda Diamond Earrings ($9M)
It's already known how exquisite and coveted Golconda diamond earrings are. This pair is especially exceptional since each one has a weight of more than 23 carats. They are referred to as the “Imperial Cushions” because of their shape. Set in platinum they are dangle earrings with bell-shaped single-cut links, all cut in an antique style not seen today.
Part of the Christie's Magnificent Jewels collection, they were purchased by a buyer that opted to keep their identity private in May of 2011. The Christie’s auction, held in Hong Kong, fetched more than $9 million for the Indian diamonds. Golconda diamonds are said to have exceptional clarity.
Pink Artemis Pear-Shaped Diamond Earrings ($15M)
The Pink Artemis diamond is considered one of the most untouched stones of its kind. The 16-carat pair of earrings was sold at a Geneva auction, hosted by Sotheby’s in 2017. According to the Gemological Institute of America, the Pink Artemis is a type 2 diamond, it's one of the best diamonds in the world.
Needless to say, that made for a bidding war that would go down in history. In the end, the earrings sold at auction for more than $15.3 million. This was sold a part of a pair that included a blue diamond named, appropriately, Apollo, mentioned below.
Boehmer Et Bassenge Diamond Earrings ($17.5M)
This pair of earrings is part of Christie's Geneva Magnificent Jewel collection that was auctioned in November 2016. Designed by Boehmer Et Bassenge, each earring weighs more than 50 carats and is mounted in gold.
The Gemological Institute of America has classified the diamonds as flawless, placing them in the type 2 category. Perfect diamonds are very rare to come by and significantly increases the value. Ironically, perfection didn’t matter in this case. The pair of earrings fell short of the pre-auction sales estimate, which was the case for many of the lots at this auction. The purchaser of the earrings chose to remain anonymous.
Apollo Blue Pear-Shaped Diamond Earrings ($42M)
The Apollo Blue diamond earring set the world record for the most costly pair of diamond earrings to ever sell at auction. The price tag? $42.08 million. The blue diamond is the brother pair to the Pink Artemis. The siblings weren’t sold as a set but surprisingly, they were purchased by the same buyer, at the same auction.
The Apollo Blue diamond earrings are extremely valuable due to their near perfection and color. The pair weighs more than 14.5 carats and is also considered a type 2 diamond. Less than half of 1 percent of diamonds fall into the type 2 category.
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