A symbol of fidelity, power, and wealth, the diamond is one of the rarest stones, billions of years old and created through severe pressure to become the hardest natural material. These spectacular gems consistently command multimillion dollar prices, when the perfect recipe of carat weight, clarity, color, and cut collide. Here are the world's most expensive diamonds ever auctioned:
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10. The Princie Diamond: $39.3 million
In 2013, the 34-carat Princie Diamond sold at Christie's in New York. At the time, the pink diamond won the world record for the most expensive diamond ever sold at Christie's, the most expensive diamond ever auctioned in the U.S., and the most expensive Golconda diamond sold at auction when it achieved over $39 million.
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The stone was found in Golcondagruvorna in India about 300 years ago, and the first known owner was King Nizam. In the 1960s, the family sold the diamond at Sotheby's to Van Cleef & Arpels. It was Pierre Arpel who gave the stone the name The Princie to commemorate Sayajirao Gaekwad, the 14-year old son of Maharani Sita Devi Sahib of Baroda.
9. The Apollo Blue or The Memory of Autumn Leaves: $42.0 million
In May 2017, Sotheby announced the sale of the most expensive pair of earrings ever at auction. They consisted of two rare and exquisite diamonds: one blue, the Apollo and the other pink, the Artemis, named for the two Olympic gods. Apollo, weighing 14.54 carats, sold for a final price of $42 million. The Pink Artemis, weighing 16 carats, sold for $15.3 million. After the sale, the diamonds were renamed The Memory of Autumn Leaves and The Dream of Autumn Leaves. Blue diamonds are, after pink, the most popular diamond color. They get their color through a natural blend of the chemical element and semi-metal boron and are most commonly found in the Cullinan mine in South Africa.
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8. Bleu Royal: $43.8 Million
Weighing 17.61 carats, the Bleu Royal was the largest internally flawless fancy vivid blue diamond to appear for sale in auction history. It was polished and cut into a perfectly symmetrical pear shape and set on a ring, flanked by two 3-carat white diamonds. The Bleu Royal made its auction debut at Christie's in Geneva in November 2023 and sold for an impressive $43.8 million.
7. The Graff Pink: $46.1 million
This pink gemstone belonged to a private collection for 60 years before it was auctioned at Sotheby's Geneva in 2010. What makes the stone so special is the combination of exceptional color and purity together with its diamond grinding, a technique to fix imperfections. It is usually done with white diamonds and is extremely sought after when done for colored diamonds. The 24.78 carat stone sold for $46 million to the jeweler Laurence Graff and given the name The Graff Pink.
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The main source of pink diamonds is the Argyle Grave in Australia, where 90% of the world's pink diamonds come from. The color comes from a defect in the crystal structure.
6. The Blue Moon of Josephine: $48.4 million
The Oppenheimer Blue is the most expensive blue diamond ever auctioned, though not by price per carat. That record was earned in November 2015 at Sotheby's Geneva with the sale of The Blue Moon of Josephine. Hong Kong billionaire Joseph Lau bought this 12-carat ring, adorned by The Blue Moon diamond, for $49 million. The stone was a gift to his seven-year-old daughter Josephine and as a result received the new name The Blue Moon of Josephine.
5. The Pink Legacy: $50.3 million
The Pink Legacy, or The Winston Pink Legacy, weighs approximately 19 carats and is of the highest grade when it comes to color. This kind of saturation in color is only awarded to .001% of diamonds, and most weigh under a carat, making one of this size extremely rare. The South Africa-mined stone was owned by the Oppenheimer family, who owns De Beers, and sold for $50 million to Harry Winston in November 2018.
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4. The De Beers Blue: $57.4 million
The De Beers Blue weighs 15.1 carats and was mined from the Cullinan mine in 2021. It was then purchased by De Beers, who polished the rough-cut stone. The blue beauty sold in April 2022 at Sotheby's Hong Kong for HK$450.9 million (more than $57.4 million), making it the second most expensive blue diamond and fourth overall diamond to sell at auction.
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3. The Oppenheimer Blue: $57.5 million
Also owned by the Oppenheimer family, the eponymous Oppenheimer Blue is the world's most expensive blue diamond ever auctioned. The intense color, an impressive almost perfect clarity, and the 14.62 carat weight motivated two telephone bidders to fight until the final price was reached at $57.5 million at Christie's in 2016.
2. Williamson Pink Star: $57.7 million
The 11.15-carat fancy vivid pink internally flawless cushion-cut diamond sparked a bidding war in Hong Kong in October 2022 that spanned nearly 50 bids and lasted 20 minutes. Private collectors from the U.S. won the jewel for $453.2 million HKD ($57.7 million USD). The sum represents a world record price per carat for a diamond or gemstone and makes the Williamson Pink Star the second most expensive jewel ever sold at auction. The late Queen Elizabeth II famously owned the Williamson Pink Diamond, also from the same mine, which was given to her in its uncut state upon her wedding in 1947 and then cut and fashioned into the centerpiece of a floral brooch by Cartier.
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1. The Pink Star or The Pink Dream: $71.2 million
In November 2013, the Pink Star diamond, weighing 59.6 carats, came up for auction at Sotheby's. Following a bidding war between three parties, diamond dealer Isaac Wolf won with a bid of $83.2 million. First known as the Steinmetz Pink, after owner Israeli businessman Beny Steinmetz, it was renamed The Pink Dream. In February of the following year, it was announced that Wolf could not pay for the stone.
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Sotheby's, which guaranteed the seller a minimum of $60 million, had to buy the stone for that price. In April 2017, the diamond was auctioned again. This time, the Pink Dream was purchased by Hong Kong jeweler Chow Tai Fook for $71.2 million.
The World's Most Valuable Diamond
The world's most expensive diamond, however, has never been sold at auction. In 1905, in the Colony of Transvaal, South Africa, the mining company Cullinan found a diamond weighing 3,106 carats. The diamond was released in Johannesburg before it was shipped to England and was named Cullinan after the mining company owner.
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With the high value of the stone, it was a great security liability. It was said that the stone was stored in the captain's safe on the steamer, guarded by police officers. However, the rumors were a diversion tactic, and the stone on the boat was not the real diamond. Instead, it is said that the stone was sent to England in a box by mail.
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Once in England, the stone remained unsold and was divided into 9 larger and 96 smaller stones. Today, the largest, Cullinan I (530 carats) is part of the British crown jewel collection. In 2013, Cullinan I was valued at $400 million. The total value of all 105 diamonds from the original stone is difficult to accurately estimate, but is estimated to be around $2 billion.
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This is an updated version of the article originally published on November 21, 2018.
