A rare 37-carat square-cut emerald owned by the Aga Khan sold for nearly $9 million at auction in Geneva on Tuesday, setting a new record as the world’s most expensive green gemstone.
The Cartier emerald and diamond brooch, auctioned by Christie’s, can also be worn as a pendant and has now surpassed the previous record-holder—a Bulgari emerald gifted to Elizabeth Taylor by Richard Burton—as the most valuable emerald in history.
Commissioned by Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan in 1960, the emerald was set in a brooch by Cartier, surrounded by 20 marquise-shaped diamonds, platinum, and 18-karat yellow gold, for his then-wife, British socialite Nina Dyer. After their brief marriage, Dyer auctioned the piece in 1969 to support animal welfare, with the sale coincidentally taking place during Christie’s first Geneva auction.
The brooch was purchased by Van Cleef & Arpels before passing into the collection of Harry Winston, the famed U.S. jeweler known as the “King of Diamonds.”
“Emeralds are extremely sought-after at the moment, and this one meets all the criteria for rarity and quality,” said Max Fawcett, Head of Jewellery for Christie’s EMEA. “Emeralds of this caliber appear at auction maybe once every five or six years.”
The previous record-holding emerald, part of Elizabeth Taylor’s legendary jewelry collection, fetched $6.5 million at a 2011 auction in New York.
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