The most expensive
diamonds in the world

Safely secured behind bulletproof glass in the Tower of London, the world’s most precious diamond is admired by millions of people every year: It’s set in the Queen Mother’s Crown, which is part of the Crown Jewels displayed at the Tower of London.

The magnificent piece is one of the largest cut diamonds in the world and was discovered in India in 1294. Weighing 105.6 carats, it’s said to be worth more than 1.6 billion dollars.

Legend has it that only God and women can wear the stone without consequences; from men, ownership might bring bad luck.

Interesting fact: The name of the stone is Persian, meaning ‘Mountain of Light’ and refers to its astounding size.

Discovered in 1905 in South Africa, the Cullinan diamond originally weighed an astonishing 3016.7 carats. This legendary gem was named after the mine’s owner, Thomas Cullinan, and was gifted to British king Edward VII. However, the raw diamond didn’t stay intact; it was cut into nine large stones and 96 minor brilliants.

Cullinan I is the largest of these gems, weighing 530.4 carats and is known as the ‘The Great Star of Africa’. It’s now part of the Crown Jewels of the United Kingdom.

Interesting fact: According to experts, this magnificent piece could fetch up to 570 million dollars at auction.

In 2007, geologists in Australia discovered a diamond that formed around 4.25 billion years ago. However, diamonds used in jewellery usually originate from stones that are ‘only’ between 1.5 to 2 billion years old.

Hope Diamond: One of the world’s most renowned gemstones

Surrounded by myths and legends, the Hope Diamond stands out as one of the world’s most notorious gemstones. Weighing 45.52 carats and radiating a deep blue colour, it has an estimated value of around 400 million dollars. Once owned by notable figures, like King Louis XIV, this mesmerising piece now lives in the Smithsonian Museum in Washington D.C.

Interesting fact: According to legend, the diamond was stolen from a Hindu statue and was therefore cursed, bringing great misfortune to those who own it.

In their natural state, diamonds, made purely of crystallised carbon, may not catch the eye. It’s the expert craftmanship of cutting, shaping and polishing that reveals their beauty.

The cut also determines whether you end up with a diamond or a brilliant. According to Mohs’ hardness scale for minerals introduced in 1822, diamonds which can only be cut with another diamond rank highest with a hardness of 10. These gemstones form deep within the Earth’s mantle, approximately 150 to 300 kilometres below the surface, and are brought to higher layers by rising magma.

In 1999, in Botswana, De Beers, the world's leading diamond dealer, mined a 132.5-carat gem, that would captivate the world. As a result of its exceptional rarity, the original diamond was cut and polished over a period of two years. In 2017, at a Sotheby's auction in Hong Kong, the diamond was sold at a record-breaking asking price of about 108 million dollars.

However, the buyer, a jewellery chain from Hong Kong, initially hesitated to make the payment. History seemed to be repeating itself: four years earlier, during an auction in Geneva, a bidder won the piece for what was then a world record sum of 100 million dollars. At that time, the payment fell through, and the auction house reclaimed the stone back.

Interesting fact: Bidding for the valuable stone lasted just five minutes in 2017.