Which Jewelry Is the Most Expensive: Diamond Jewelry

Jewelry is the art of transforming precious metals and stones, especially gold, into works used as jewelry and investment tools. The first thing to do when buying a jewelry product should be the query of the materials used on it. If you want healthy shopping, it is always the right of the buyer to ask what material the purchased product is made of and what kind of stones are used. So what about the price of the jewels? Which jewelry is the most expensive?

Diamond jewelry is the most expensive jewelry among all others. The fact that it takes many years to form, is difficult to extract, is rare, requires effort to be processed due to its hardness, are the reasons why diamonds are the most expensive jewels in the world. It has maintained this feature for centuries. Although it is thought that the value of the raw diamond decreases during the transformation into diamond, this situation is not as expected. The raw form of a diamond is not as eye-catching as a jewel diamond. It is the stage cut that makes it radiant and magnificent. The shape is an important issue that directly affects diamond prices.

Why Diamond Is the Most Expensive Jewelry?

The diamond, which is often thought to be expensive because it is scarce, actually has a very interesting story. As a matter of fact, diamond is one of the most mined and therefore the least rare gems among precious stones. So why is the diamond valuable? Why is diamond expensive compared to other precious stones? First of all, it is worth noting that. Diamond was also a very precious stone in the past. The ancient Greeks believed that this indestructible stone had magical powers, thus conferring status to its owner.

Royals and nobles took great pleasure in wearing diamonds. So diamonds are not a new phenomenon. Over the years, the diamond has been a symbol of power and wealth. It used to be enough to explain the rise in the rarity price as diamonds were much harder to find, but that’s not the case today.

In the 1800s, a new diamond mine was discovered in Kimberly, a South African city. This mine, which has enough diamonds to meet all the diamond needs of the world, had enough potential to quickly reduce diamond prices. Seeing this, a company called De Beers intervened immediately and bought the mine. Running the world’s largest diamond supply unchecked shouldn’t be a huge waste of money. De Beers has controlled the mine’s diamond supply just enough to keep prices at a level. For this reason, diamonds were still thought to be rare and their prices did not decrease.

By the 19th century, De Beers had become a worldwide monopoly and taken control of the mines. One of the smartest moves by De Beers was to support the trend of making marriage proposals with a solitaire diamond ring. While emerald and sapphire rings were popular before, the new campaign has increased the demand for diamonds. Therefore, the reason why the diamond is expensive is not that it is rare, but because it is a perception operation carried out on the assumption that it is rare. Diamond is not a rare metal, but when the features such as its very hard, almost unbreakable structure, and the fact that pure diamond emits a tremendous light under the light, the work of those who carry out the perception operation was not too difficult.

The price of diamond rings depends on the quality of the diamond used and its craftsmanship. When the brands’ own dividends are added to this, the prices of diamond rings are in a wide range. For example, a 0.04-carat diamond solitaire ring can cost between thousand and 2,000 USD, while a 3-carat solitaire diamond ring is sold for around 400 thousand USD. The size, purity, cut and color of the diamond directly affect the price of the solitaire. Solitaire rings in the examples above can cost twice as much when using a colored diamond.

The most expensive diamond solitaire ring ever sold is made of a very rare blue-colored diamond. A billionaire paid 48.4 million dollars to buy a 12.3-carat diamond ring, called the Blue Moon, as a gift to his 7-year-old daughter, with its perfect color and light quality.

Which Factors Affect the Price of Diamond?

Of course, no diamond has equal features; like any commercial product on the market. Many factors, from its shape to its cut, from its color to where and how much it is found, play a major role in the pricing of the diamond. That’s why we would like to summarize the features that affect the price of the diamond in 5 items in order to clear our confusion and follow a more conscious way in diamond shopping.

Almost all of us have heard of the 4Cs of a diamond in some way. For those of us who haven’t heard, what is this 4C? The four words that start with the letter C, cut, clarity, color, and carat, are values that reveal the rarity of a diamond according to its level. This 4C reflects the unique characteristics of each diamond and is valued in the diamond sizing system.

Most diamonds sold in the market are certified by official institutions. HRD Antwerp (Antwerp Diamond Supreme Council) and GIA (American Gemstone Institute) are the most reliable and prestigious diamond certification bodies known; Apart from these, there are other institutes as well. These institutions have very systematic and consistent measurement methods, and this proves whether the diamond you bought with peace of mind is in the specifications you have been told. For this reason, buying a certified diamond always gives you value for your money.

In the diamond world, cutting is the surface (i.e. faceting) of the rough diamond with angled cuts and shaping it to reflect light in the strongest possible way, creating sparkles and colorful flashes of light. Ideally, there are 57 facets on the diamond. The diamond consists of 3 parts; crown, belt, and cone. The crown has 33 facets, and because the number of facets is more in this section, more flare appears. The belt section under the crown also affects the shine of the diamond. If the belt thickness is too much, the light will be kept and the diamond will look dull; however, if it is too thin, the stone may break while being set.

The part under the arch is called the cone and has 24 facets. The cone allows the light entering the diamond to reflect out. The more accurately the cone is cut, the light entering the diamond is reflected, leaving the crown again, and optimum brightness is achieved. The proportions, angles and systematic arrangement of the sections are intended to reflect the light in the deepest way. Sometimes a diamond with a very high level of color and clarity cannot be cut incorrectly; therefore, it may cause it not to shine and may cause depreciation in terms of price.

Again, diamond grading institutes evaluate the diamond’s ability to reflect light while certifying it. There are 3 main factors that affect the cut of the diamond; A well-cut diamond should have symmetrical facets, equal proportions of the facets, and the stone should not be cut too deep or short.

Although the most known cut in terms of shape is the round cut, there are also different cuts called fancy cuts in the diamond cut. A round cut diamond is more expensive than many cuts because more rough diamonds are chipped and crafted. In other words, in order to cut a round cut diamond, a larger bit of diamond is required. On the contrary, diamonds that use less raw materials, such as princess cut and emerald cut, might be more affordable.

As we mentioned before, like almost everything found in nature, diamonds are unique in many ways as a miracle of nature. No diamond is the same with the features it contains; clarity is the feature that highlights this most strikingly. Stains, marks, air bubbles, cracks, and clouds found in a rough diamond are called inclusions (residue, foreign matter) and nowhere are two diamonds with the same inclusion. How few of the inclusions mentioned are in the diamond; In other words, the clearer the diamond, the more valuable the diamond becomes. Inclusions are graded by size, number, location, natural feature, and area; This, combined with other factors, creates a criterion for pricing.

Although diamonds seem colorless to the naked eye, every diamond has color except the rare ones, and it is formed in different colors due to the reactions of the diamond. When gemstone experts talk about the color of the diamond, they are actually talking about how colorless it is, and the fewer colors the diamond has, the more valuable it is. It usually has colors in diamond yellow and light brown tones. The rarest and nearly colorless ones are designated by the letters D, E, F, G. The majority of the diamonds in nature are between H and L colors, and this sequence continues by coloring up to Z. Apart from this, there are also rare diamonds with clear colors such as very rare pink, blue, true yellow and red.

Carat is the unit for measuring the mass of a diamond, weighing one-fifth of a gram, and abbreviated as ct (1ct = 0.200 g). In fact, although the carat is thought to be the most valuable factor that determines the price of a diamond when the factors mentioned above are taken into account, the carat weight alone is not enough for a diamond to be expensive.

Most Expensive Diamonds in the World

Orange Diamond – $35 million

While pink and blue diamonds are generally the focus of attention, this 14.82-carat diamond made a worldwide impact for its bright orange color and rarity (the largest known orange diamond up to that time was 5.54 carats). In 2013, the diamond was sold at an auction for $35.5 million, which was a record at the time.

The Prince – $39 million

This famous 34.54-carat diamond, whose known history stretches back 300 years, was discovered in the Golconda mines in India. This diamond is named after the son of Maharani Sita Devi of Baroda. Purchased by millionaire Van Cleef at an auction in 1960, this diamond is said to be worth about 39 million. The name of the prince was given in honor of the 14-year-old son of the maharajah of the noble family who put the jewel up for auction.

Graff Pink – $46 million

This stunning 24.78-carat diamond was purchased by Laurance Graff, founder of Graff Diamonds. A diamond positioned on a ring was the most expensive jewel ever sold at an auction for its time – in 2010.

Pink Star (The Steinmetz Pink) – $83 million

This 59.60-carat diamond was mined from South Africa by De Beers in 1999. Since pink diamonds are generally smaller in size, the Pink Star falls into the class of rare diamonds. The diamond was sold for $71.2 million at an auction held in Hong Kong in 2017. Known as the Pink Star, the diamond later fetched $83 million at an auction in Geneva. Diamond became the gemstone sold at the highest price. Isaac Wolf, one of New York’s well-known diamond cutters, who bought the 59.60 carats Pink Star, named the diamond “Pink Dream”.

Wittelsbach Apple – $80 million

The first owner of this diamond, which was discovered in 1600, was King Philip IV of Spain. It was purchased by Graff in 2008, and after further processing, it was sold to the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa, for $80 million. The 35.56 carats Wittelsbach Diamond was mined in India over 300 years ago. The diamond has been in both Austrian and Bavarian royal jewelry collections throughout history and was sold at an auction for 67.4 million Euros in 2017.

De Beers Centenary – $100 million

The raw form of this diamond, which was mined in 1986, was 600 carats. As a result of the work of the team of engineers, technicians, artists, and the security army, this 274-carat jewel, worth 100 million dollars, emerged. Originally 599 carats, this stunning diamond measured 273.85 carats when finished. Classified with the letter “D”, the top grade for colorless diamonds, the diamond was discovered in 1986. Diamond is considered flawless in terms of both its internal and external structure.

The Hope – $350 million

One of the most famous diamonds in the world, the 45.52-karat Hope Diamond looks blue to the naked eye but turns reddish under ultraviolet light. It is believed that the Hope Diamond is cursed and brings bad luck to its owners. The Hope Diamond can now be seen at the Smithsonian Museum in Washington.

The Hope Diamond The strange thing about this diamond, originally called Le Bijou du Roi, is the curse rumors about it, which contradicts its name. Although it is not known when the diamond was discovered, the first documents about it appeared in 1812. According to belief, the person who has this diamond necklace is cursed and exposed to a series of disasters. Although the exact value of the diamond exhibited in the Smithsonian Natural History Museum today is not known; It is thought to be around a quarter billion dollars.

The Cullinan – $400 million

The largest known gem in history was the Cullinan apple, which was mined in South Africa and weighed 3106.75, or 6.21 kg. After this diamond was mined, it was brought to England and split into 96 smaller pieces alongside 7 main pieces. Today, the main pieces of Cullinan are owned by the British Royal Family, and the pieces of royalty are estimated at $2 billion. The Cullinan, also known as “Africa’s Big Star,” is famous for its shape and large size, and is the most valuable diamond today. The 530.2-carat diamond is part of British royal jewelry.

The Sancy – Priceless

Sancy, which you can see in the French royal jewelry collection at the Louvre Museum in Paris, was named after a French diplomat who lived in the 16th century. Resembling a shield in its shape, this 55.23-carat pale yellow diamond is priceless because it is so rare.

Koh-i-Noor – Priceless

Discovered in 1294, this 105.6-carat diamond, owned by many different people throughout history, is invaluable today, but rumors have spread that its value exceeds 1 billion Euros. “Koh-i-Noor” means “Mountain of Light” in Persian. The diamond is in the British royal jewelry collection today.

Why Diamond Rings Are So Expensive?

The diamond ring is one of the most indispensable jewels of women. Diamond ring models, which are quite eye-catching, are one of the most important details that symbolize both style and love in marriage proposals or fantasy ring models in ordinary and daily times. However, of course, as with every valuable accessory to be purchased, the most important factor for diamond rings is the price of the diamond ring. First of all, thanks to the quality of the diamond stones used in the diamond rings; It will be ensured that the ring can even be passed on from generation to generation.

For this reason, quality is the element that should be considered as a priority. Rings gain value as time passes, as they are of good quality. Therefore, one of the most beautiful expressions symbolizing love is of course considered a diamond. Solitaire diamond rings are obtained by processing the diamond. Brilliant beauty, combined with diamonds and aesthetics, is exceptionally designed and attributed to women. The beauty of the diamond is; clear, reflecting light, colors, and carats.

For this reason, it is very important for smart shopping that especially those who will propose marriage have knowledge about diamonds. One of the most important issues to be considered in terms of quality in a ring selection is the 4C features. 4C is the most important factor that determines the quality of the diamond. The features included in the 4C are cut, color, clarity, and carat weight.

The price of a diamond ring is determined by many factors. Briefly; It can be summarized as clarity, quality, carat, cut, color. Diamond ring price is determined by the preferred diamond ring models. In general, the price of a diamond ring is determined by the carat, clarity, cut, workmanship, and color of the stones used. In addition, if you are planning to buy a diamond ring; Just like in diamond ring types, you should not forget that many factors such as clarity, carat, color, features of the stone, whether it is stained or not, workmanship and cut are determinant in terms of diamond ring prices.

Diamond rings are generally very valuable rings. The stone cut of the diamond is the part that requires the most mastery. During the treatment of the diamond, there is only one stage that the human hand touches, and that is cutting. This stage, which requires good technology and great mastery, is quite decisive for solitaire prices. The cut of the diamond significantly affects its carat and brilliance. It continues to gain value as it ages. Therefore, it can be purchased not only as an accessory but also for investment purposes.

In general, the price of a diamond ring is determined by quality, carat, clarity, and color. The highest diamond models in terms of price are diamond rings with stones in yellow and white. These colors cannot be seen with the naked eye. However, since yellow and white diamonds, that is, unblemished, are very rare, their prices may be higher than classical models. However, the price is determined according to the stone carat. You should make sure that the diamond you buy is certified and sent with the certificate from reliable places.