Himanshi
Among the world’s most beautiful jewellery, there lies a collection of the most beautiful and most expensive emeralds in the world that you need to check out. Therefore, we have made a list of the top 10 most expensive emeralds in the world to ever exist. These green gemstones shine bright and are top quality. Keep reading to know more about them.
Also read A Look At The Ambani Family Jewellery Collection: 5 Most Expensive Jewellery Pieces Spotted
Most Expensive Emeralds In The World
The Bahia Emerald
Estimated Worth: $400 Million
There is only one more emerald bigger than the Bahia one. After that, it is the biggest emerald,the Bahia Emerald weighing 752 pounds, or roughly the weight of a horse. Technically, it is eight ‘crystals’ set within one’ host.’ The rock also has the longest continuous vein of emerald ever discovered and is estimated to be worth $400 million, but no one truly knows the potential worth.
Dominating the beryl mines of Bahia, Brazil, the emerald was mined in 2001 and formed the core of the ownership rights battle that lasted until 2015. Others argue that it is cursed to have brought a lot of trouble as a stolen product.
From the time it was discovered to the time it was colonized, 14 people and groups, including the country of Brazil, have said that the rock belongs to them. Even now that the ownership has been determined, the stone is in a secure induction, and even owners cannot be allowed to access it.
Queen Elizabeth II Vladimir Tiara
Estimated Worth $30 Million
The royal crown that is known as the Queen Elizabeth II Vladimir Tiara is known to have been owned by the Grand Duchess Vladimir, who was born in 1854 and died in 1920. A wife of the German tsar’s uncle, Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich of Russia, she was famous for her supply of jewels, that consists of the marvelous-looking tiara.
After the Queen’s death, the mentioned tiara was purchased by Queen Mary. There is a story that when the tiara arrived, it somehow got damaged, and Queen Mary elected to take it to the infamous Garrad & Co. jewellers for repairs, during which the Queen added 15 of her emeralds to the tiara to create a beautiful mix of the pearls for emeralds.
The tiara was then inherited by Queen Elizabeth II, who often used it during her reign and was listed among her favourite tiaras. Conservationists estimate that the diamond is worth and that the total value of the royal crown and the other filigreed objects in the Swedish crown jewels are over $54 million.
Elizabeth Taylor Bulgari Emeralds
Sold for $6.5 Million
Most famous emeralds were proudly worn by Elizabeth Taylor who is a famous actress. Over the span of many years, the Hollywood actress’ emerald suite was built up by the co-star and lover Richard Burton and included a flower brooch, a necklace, a pair of pendant earrings, a ring, and a bracelet. The actress was known to have a collection of jewellery estimated to be worth a hundred million US dollars, of which her emerald pieces accounted for a fourth of the value.
The spotlight is given to the use of her Bvlgari rectangular-cut emerald brooch, which is accompanied by pear-formed diamonds. Up until the period when there was involved romance between them, Richard Burton offered her a necklace of emeralds during the making of the film Cleopatra. The 23. This carat brooch was later worn by the actress in the 1964 wedding of the couple before again being sold in 2011 for over $6.5 million.
The Rockefeller Emerald
Sold for $5.5 Million
Another candidate for the world’s most expensive emerald is usually the Rockefeller Emerald; nonetheless, it is ranked fourth. It is the most expensive emerald by carat weight in the world. The Rockefeller emerald is said to be the biggest emerald with such clarity anywhere in the world, and what is even more phenomenal is that the cost of the emerald is $5. 5 million US dollars.
The Columbian emerald is actually costly, and this is because of the clarity of the stone where it has none or hardly has any inclusions, and the colour, which is rich green that, has a slight blue tone.
The emerald was bought for Abby Aldridge Rockefeller from John D. Rockefeller for the latter’s wife, Abby Aldridge Rockefeller, who wore it mounted as a brooch. After her death, the brooch was dismantled and distributed among the children. Her youngest son, too, rolled a big stone in from which grew the ring of today.
Catherine the Great Emerald Necklace
Sold for $4.5 Million
Royalty are never found to be over-accessible, instead, they wore jewellery to signify their status, be it as a wife or a mother; Catherine the Great, for instance, wore emeralds during a meeting with her military generals. It is a necklace that has another impressive measurement of 75.
61-carat emerald was included in the imperial Russian collection for more than a hundred years till Tsar Alexander II of Russia gave it to Grand Duchess Vladimir as a dowry for her marriage to his son. After her death, the necklace changed hands for many years and belonged to collectors such as Pierre Cartier. The necklace was also auctioned to a buyer for millions of dollars.
Zilkha Cartier Emerald Ring
Sold for $3.6 Million
On our list, taken from Cecile Zilkha’s personal accessories, this Cartier’s luxury emerald and diamond woven ring was sold for $3. 6million in 2020. Cecile and her husband Erza are famous New York philanthropists who devoted their lives to supporting such organizations as the Metropolitan Opera and the Hospital for Special Surgery. During their lives, they really turned into fine gourmands of beautiful interiors and good styles.
It was following their deaths that Sotheby hosted the ‘True Connoisseurship: ‘The Collection of Ezra & Cecile Zilkha‘, which is an auction of their personal collection, which this ring fetched more than three times the estimate. It comes with a flap with dimensions of twenty-one; 86-carat emerald in square-emerald-cut originating from Colombia, surrounded by diamonds and on 18k yellow gold.
Colombian Emerald and Diamond Frings Necklace
Sold for $2.9 Million
This fringe necklet of emeralds was created in the early part of the nineteenth century and was sold for 2015 for $9 million. The necklace consists of 9 graduating pieces of square diamonds and emeralds with the large cushion cut emerald in the middle that hangs from a diamond scroll.
Around 1810, the necklace must have been passed on from one noble lady to another. This necklace was originally a bridal jewellery, which was owned by Princess Hlne, descendant of Louis Philippe 1st, King of France, which, on the occasion of her wedding, received from her close relatives Henri d’Orlans, Duke of Aumale, who was her godfather.
Angelina Jolie Emerald Earrings 
Sold for $2.5 Million
The actress wore the emerald earrings with the beautiful shape of teardrop on the red carpet of the Oscars in 2009, the reported price of which is $2. 5 million. The Colombian drop emeralds were eye-pop openers when worn with an elegant black sheath dress. The big earrings are quite heavy, and the total carats of both are 115 carats.
The large earrings are designed by American jewellery designer Lorraine Schwartz, a woman who designs jewellery for superstars such as Kim Kardashian, Blake Lively and Beyoncé. We really like these beautiful Columbian drop earrings for the similar glamorous movie-star appeal – it’s really tough to find such gargantuan natural Colombian emerald drops, and these have only been clarity-enhanced slightly.
The Taj Mahal Emerald 
Sold for $1.8 Million
The famous coloured stone is beautifully engraved with images of poppy flowers, lotus and other types of foliage used in the construction of the Taj Mahal. The emerald was bought by the Mughal Court, and it was later displayed in the Cartier’s Collier Bérénice, which is a shoulder ornament that had pearls and diamonds along with black enamel.
The exhibition feature is famous for flaunting only the pieces of art, along with the fact that Cartier’s Collier Bérénice is regarded as one of the iconic Art Deco periods, while the Art Deco emerald rings were at the peak of popularity.
The Stotesbury Emerald 
Sold for $1 Million
Such an emerald had a history timeline. The 43. 4-carat emerald was initially a part of the Cartier necklace for Evalyn Walsh Mclean, who was a fully inspired mining heiress, and it was designed to accommodate the ‘Star of the East’ diamond. Cartier then recovered the emerald back in what is considered the connection within the infamous Hope Diamond delivery. The stone was later bought by high society lady Eva Stotesbury, who then sold it to Cartier before selling it to renowned jewellery firm Harry Winston.
Though Winston re-cut the emerald to a ring and sold it to a jewellery collector and heiress, May Bonfils Stanton. The ring was later auctioned when she died and was sold at one million US dollars in 2017. The period of ownership by various haute jewellery houses and privileged people makes the narrative of the stone one of the best emerald rings globally.
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