Sapphires have been adored for hundreds of years, used all through historical past in crown jewels, engagement rings and uncommon high-end jewelry items. Learn on to study in regards to the high 12 most costly sapphires on this planet, from historic treasures to the beloved items of Hollywood legends!
12. The Logan Sapphire – $2.5 Million
We’re kicking off our most costly record with the magnificent 423 carat Logan Sapphire. As one of many largest faceted sapphires on this planet, the gem is ready into a considerable brooch surrounded by 20 spherical good lower diamonds. The brooch has exchanged fingers by way of a collection of well-known and rich homeowners. Initially possessed by Sir Victor Sassoon, the sapphire was then bought by M. Robert Guggenheim as a present for his spouse, who later donated the sapphire to the Smithsonian Institute in 1960. In case you’re curious as to the place the gem will get its title, it’s after Rebecca Guggenheim remarried as Rebecca Logan!
11. The Rockefeller Sapphire Ring – $3.03 Million
In 2011, Christie’s offered The Rockefeller Sapphire for $3.03 million. Initially a part of the gathering of Nizam of Hyderabad, the sapphire was then purchased and owned by John D Rockefeller Jr. for nearly 40 years. After exchanging a number of fingers, the sapphire was ultimately set right into a platinum ring crafted by Tiffany & Co. The 62.02 carat rectangular lower sapphire, flanked by triangular lower diamonds and thought of a masterpiece by many.
10. Kashmir Sapphire Ring – $4 Million
This extraordinary ring options an distinctive and uncommon 17.16 carat step-cut sapphire, surrounded in a boarder of diamonds totalling 6.00 carats. The sapphire is described to have ‘velvety blue’ colouring, essentially the most fascinating color in sapphires from the Kashmir area. Fully pure and unheated, the gemstone is a real uncommon magnificence, promoting at public sale for 4 million in 2014.
9. The Kelly Sapphire- $4.2 Million
From the non-public assortment of enterprise girl and philanthropist, Margaret Adderley Kelly, this gorgeous Cartier Kashmir sapphire ring was offered for $4.2 million in Christie’s 2015 closing spring public sale. Referred to as ‘The Kelly Sapphire’, the Cartier signed ring incorporates a 21.71 carat Kashmir sapphire, flanked by two trapeze-shaped diamonds. Margaret Kelly alongside together with her husband, the late William R. Kelly, and their son, are famed for shaping the nationwide employment company and recruitment agency, Kelly Providers, Inc., right into a Fortune 500 firm that now employs greater than 550,000 individuals globally. The enduring “Kelly Woman” grew to become a family title by 1957, synonymous with high-quality short-term staff. As an avid advantageous jewelry collector, her private assortment was as soon as of essentially the most anticipated auctions of the seasons.
8. ‘Côte D’Azur’ Brooch – $4.6 Million
This distinctive multi diamond and sapphire brooch by Anna Hu was offered for $4.6million in 2013. Anna Hu’s jewelry is a celeb favorite worn by style-influencers the likes of Madonna, Gwyneth Paltrow, Natalie Portman and Oprah Winfrey. The 58.29 carat sapphire is ready right into a floriated design, composed of diamonds, moonstones, tourmalines and colored sapphires.
Hu’s model is famend for her East-West fusion items and use of signature uncommon gem stones. Hu labored for famed jewelry homes together with Van Cleef & Arpels and Harry Winston earlier than beginning her personal agency.
7. Elizabeth Taylor Sapphire Bvlgari Necklace – $5.9 Million
As a widely known jewelry queen, it’s no shock famed actress Elizabeth Taylor owns one of many world’s most costly sapphires. Obtained as a fortieth birthday reward from her then husband Richard Burton in 1972, the 52.72 carat sugarloaf cabochon sapphire is ready on a pavé-set diamond octagonal pendant. The sapphire and diamond sautoir was created by famed jewelry home BVLGARI – one in all Taylor’s private favorite manufacturers.
6. Jewel of Kashmir – $6.7 Million
The jewel of Kashmir set world data for value per carat when offered at Sotheby’s Hong Kong Magnificent Jewels and Jadeite Autumn Sale. At 27.68 carats of sapphire, the ring offered for a complete of $6.7million, making it a file breaking $242,145.00 per carat. The sapphire is a pure true Kashmir sapphire, and holds a velvety cornflower blue color, enhanced by it’s sq. emerald lower leading to deep, inner color reflections and brilliance.
Kashmir sapphires come from the Zanskar Vary, a distant a part of the Himalaya mountains. For the reason that mine’s depletion in 1887, Kashmir sapphires have solely elevated in rarity along with their well-sought after distinctive velvet blue colouring.
5. Unmounted Oval Sapphire – $7.2 Million
This unmounted oval-cut sapphire fetched a powerful $7.2 million at public sale in 2023, celebrated for its outstanding dimension and vibrant colouring. Originating from the Mogok mines in Burma, recognized for producing the famed Burmese rubies, this sapphire is a uncommon discover in a area the place 80-90% of the gem stones are rubies. Weighing practically 115 carats, the gem is analogous in dimension to that of a cherry tomato, although it has been lower into an oval form to greatest showcase its pure, untreated color and readability.
4. The Richelieu Sapphires $8.4 Million
At quantity In November 2023, a pair of sapphire drop earrings offered at Sotheby’s Geneva for $8.4 million. The earrings every characteristic a cushion-shaped pure unheated Kasmir sapphire weighing 26.66 and 20.88-carats respectively and are referred to as the Richelieu Sapphires. Suspended from a star-like diamond mount, the earrings hail from the gathering of Odile de Richelieu, Countess Gabriel de La Rochefoucauld, Princess de La Rochefoucauld (1879-1974).
3. The Blue Belle Of Asia – $17.7 Million
The Blue Belle of Asia sapphire is the characteristic gemstone in a surprising necklace. The cushion-shaped sapphire, weighing roughly 392.52 carats, is suspended in a brilliant-cut diamond tassel pendant that leads right into a diamond and gold neck chain.
This distinctive sapphire’s historical past is shrouded in thriller. Found in 1926 at Ratnapura (‘The Metropolis of Gems’), Ceylon’s gem mining heartland, the blue sapphire necklace was owned by the well-known gem and jewelry sellers Macan Markar, earlier than being offered to British motor magnate Lord Nuffield in 1937. The gem considerably disappeared in personal fingers for years earlier than being rediscovered within the Nineteen Seventies.
2. The Star of Adam – $300 Million
At quantity two is the world’s greatest blue star sapphire – the ‘star of sapphire’. Present in a southern Sri Lankan mine in 2015, the sapphire weighs an astonishing 1,404.49 carats.
For context; a star sapphire is a sort of sapphire displaying an optical star-like impact or “asterism” – an impact brought on by the presence of dioxide impurities (rutile) inside the sapphires. The asterism is brought on by the distinction in refractive index between the host materials and the rutile inclusions.
The ‘Star of Adam’ is the biggest of its type and technically thought of priceless by many gemmologists although monetarily valued at $300 million. The distinctive sapphire was named by it’s an nameless proprietor in reference to the Islamic perception that Adam arrived in Sri Lanka after leaving the Backyard of Eden.
1. The Stuart Sapphire – Priceless
At primary is the Stuart Sapphire, which is taken into account priceless. This sapphire weighs roughly 104 carats and is famed on account of it’s setting, in prime place of the Imperial State Crown. The Stuart Sapphire is steeped in wealthy historical past and effectively deserved because the world’s most costly sapphire. The sapphire could be traced again to the seventeenth century, with many suggesting it’s first proprietor to be King Charles II – a Home of Stuart monarch. Queen Victoria was the primary monarch to set the sapphire into her state crown, sitting slightly below the famed Black Prince Ruby.
After the invention of the Cullinan Diamond within the early twentieth century, the sapphire was changed by the Cullinan and moved to the alternative facet of the crown the place it stays right this moment. As a sapphire that has remained as a part of the crown jewels for practically two centuries, the gem is taken into account priceless. While the crown itself has by no means been valued, it’s regarded as valued at $3-5 billion.
We hope our record of the worlds most costly sapphire jewels has been each entertaining and helpful! In case you really feel impressed, don’t overlook to discover our vintage and classic sapphire jewelry collections to your personal piece of historical past!
