Most Expensive Jewelry in the World

If you thought your engagement ring or wedding band was pricey, you’ll be amazed to see that some of the world’s most expensive jewelry has been sold for prices that would easily buy you a house, a car, and maybe a mid-size yacht! What kind of jewelry qualified as the “most expensive jewelry ever” and who buys these diamond-laden extravagances?

Most of the world’s most expensive jewelry is pieces created around a specific, unique diamond—diamonds which would be record-breaking even on their own, if they were not set into jewelry. These jewelry pieces—usually necklaces and rings—are often auctioned off to collectors and jewelers, not private individuals, and are rarely, if ever worn. For these jewelry pieces to be worn safely, the wearer must be surrounded by armed bodyguards at all times! In fact, some owners of some of the world’s most expensive jewelry actually often wear high-quality replicas made of less expensive stones instead of the real deal because of the added cost of nuisance of the security detail required to wear the real thing in public! This is especially true of celebrities—whose jewelry’s details and costs are often public knowledge.

This is a list of a few of the most expensive jewelry in the world; it does not include the world’s most expensive diamonds that have not been set into jewelry. That’s why you won’t see famous jewels like the nearly 25 carat Graff Pink diamond that was famously auctioned for $45.6 million dollars last year.

• The Heart of Ruby necklace is perhaps the most expensive jewelry ever. Centered around a blood-red heart-shaped Burma ruby weighing 40.63 carats, the choker-style necklace also boasts a diamond melée of 155 carats. The necklace was most recently sold at auction for a mind-boggling $14 million.
• Once displayed at the London Natural History Museum, where it was in fact billed as the “most expensive jewellery ever,” the Mouawad necklace is a diamond wonder priced at $12 million. The diamond-studded pendant necklace is composed of both white and colored diamonds, arranged in geometric design that progresses visually towards the necklace’s center point—a 70 carat pear-shaped diamond. The necklace is currently stored in collector Robert Mouawad’s private storage facility in Geneva, Switzerland.
• Lev Leviev, an Israeli diamond tycoon who owns the third largest diamond mining group in the world, currently owns the Leviev diamond necklace, which is centered around a spectacular diamond found in one of his own mines. The 77.12 carat fancy yellow diamond is a deep, intense shade of canary yellow, and is set in a necklace of graduated white diamonds. The price of the piece is estimated at $10 million.
• London jeweler Laurence Graff is known for doing whatever it takes to put the world’s most expensive jewelry items into his collection. His famous pink diamond ring, known as the Graff Fancy Vivid Pink Diamond Ring, is valued at $10 million. It consists of a 13-carat pear-shaped pink diamond in one of the deepest, truest shades of vivid pink ever seen in a diamond, flanked by two white pear-shaped diamonds.
• Although most of the world’s most expensive jewelry consists of necklaces and rings—being that these pieces are usually centered around a single incredible stone—the next spot on this list belongs to a unique pair of diamond drop earrings belonging to the Harry Winston jewelry company. These earrings consist of four pear-shaped diamonds arranged in a cascading drop shape and boast a total carat count of 60 carats. The diamond earrings cost $8.5 million—making them qualify as the world’s most expensive jewelry that is not a ring or necklace.