The 10 Most Expensive Diamonds in the World: How Much Are They Worth?

Everybody knows diamonds are expensive, but the trick question is, which are the most expensive ones and how much they are worth? I hear you. And it's good to know because you never know who might ask you this question.

I've researched and composed a list of the ten most expensive diamonds in the world. Find out how much they cost and see if you can afford one or even two of them!

Blue Moon Diamond

The Blue Moon diamond was sold at auction by Sotheby's on June 28, 2013. The bidding started at $15 million and lasted less than ten minutes, making it one of the most expensive blue diamonds ever sold at auction.

Interestingly, it did not sell for its original $35 million asking price. With all sales fees and taxes included, it went for a final selling price of USD 48.4 million. Besides weighing an impressive 16.08 carats, the stone also has a rare blue hue and is regarded as flawless by experts.

De Beers Centenary Diamond

The De Beers Centenary Diamond is a pear-shaped diamond weighing 478.49 carats. The De Beers Centenary was discovered in 1985 and auctioned off for £10 million, making it one of the most expensive diamonds ever sold.

The auction took place at Sotheby's and lasted only four minutes, with bids coming from Europe, Asia and North America (including $3 million from Laurence Graff).

It was named by De Beers after their centenary celebration. In 1990, an American man purchased it for $5 million (roughly £4 million) and still owns it today.

Golden Jubilee

For those who aren't into math, it weighs 57.6 carats and is worth a whopping $44 million. This diamond was discovered in 1985 and was named after Queen Elizabeth II, who celebrated her 50th birthday that year.

Here's where things get interesting—the gem is so scarce that De Beers had to make another one just like it, then split them up. The company sold off one for charity for $35 million and kept one for themselves—they had to recut it down from 70 carats because it wouldn't fit into their vault! Talk about expensive storage fees... De Beers said they cut off 18 1/2 carats to make room!

Graff Pink

The rarest and most valuable of them all, The Graff Pink, was purchased by Laurence Graff for $23.6 million at a Sotheby's auction in November 2013. Its value is estimated to be between $46 million and $55 million.

The Graff Pink diamond is internally flawless with colourless grading, oval shape and a heart-shaped cut with 55 facets on its crown; it weighs 7.03 carats.

As a fancy vivid purple, pink diamond, it was discovered at South Africa's Premier Mine in 2000; with a length of 9 1/2 inches, it is perfect for necklaces, earrings, and brooches.

Koh-i-Noor (Mountain of Light)

One of the most famous diamonds in history and now part of the British royal family's Crown Jewels. Thought to have originated from India and was once thought to be the property of Alexander the Great, it was later owned by numerous Indian, Persian and Afghan rulers before being seized by Britain during its colonization.

The diamond is estimated to weigh around 105 carats or 21.6 grams; most recently valued at $100 million (¥8 billion) but sold for approximately $100 million (¥8 billion) but sold for a little less than $1 million (¥100 million) in 1852

Oppenheimer Blue

The Oppenheimer Blue is a natural, internally flawless, rectangular-cut diamond discovered in 1985 by Paul Treiman. The rough stone weighed 709 carats and was purchased by Harry Winston at auction for $1.1 million. Shortly after its discovery, it was named Blue and cut into two diamonds weighing 583.5 carats (the largest) and 207.5 carats (the smallest).

You can still find affordable cuts of gems like rubies, emeralds, and sapphires online, even if you don't have access to substantial uncut diamond mines.

Smithsonian Institution Blue Heart

This 45.52-carat diamond is worth about $20 million today and was a gift from De Beers to Elizabeth Taylor. A part of Smithsonian's National Gem Collection, it's on display at Washington, D.C.'s National Museum of Natural History.

De Beers Mining Co. mined this substantial blue heart-shaped diamond in 1999 when Taylor was still married to businessman Richard Burton. After an argument with Taylor two years later, Burton lay dying before succumbing to his injuries after falling down some stairs after whispering the big one to Taylor.

Steinmetz Pink Star

The Steinmetz Pink Star is a 59.60-carat cushion-shaped diamond with intense pink colour. Its origins are entirely unknown, though it's believed to have been mined by De Beers in South Africa sometime between 1920 and 1925.

The rock set a record price of $83 million when sold at auction by Sotheby's Geneva to jewellery designer Graff Diamonds in 2013. The beauty of a diamond is its color which can vary from shades of brown, yellow or even green.

Tiffany Yellow Diamond

In 2009, luxury jeweler Tiffany & Co. sold a rare canary-yellow diamond for $8.8 million at auction. Its name is Tiffany Yellow, a canary yellow diamond with a color grading of fancy vivid (fv) and internally flawless (if).

In addition to its size and weight, the diamond has a clarity grade of fancy vivid (fv). Type IIb/IIb is a bicolour combination of blue/pink under daylight and yellow/brown under incandescent light.

Wittelsbach–Graff

The rare Wittelsbach–Graff diamond is a rectangular cut, the pear-shaped diamond of 110.52 carats mined in South Africa. Its unique colour and excellent clarity grade (Si1) make it a beautiful gem.

It was first mounted on an elaborate necklace made of platinum and diamonds with a total weight of 308 carats for Queen Victoria at her Golden Jubilee celebration in 1897. Because it is one of history's most significant diamonds, it fetched $24 million when Christie's auctioned it off in 2001. Today, its current owner has had it insured for $130 million.

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