Yahoo Finance World's most expensive diamond earrings are up for sale... at £55 MILLION
Diamonds are a girl’s best friend, so the song goes and she would have to be one super wealthy lady to own these.
They are the world’s most expensive earrings to be offered at auction – expected to fetch at least £55 million.
The mismatched pair of coloured diamonds – one blue, the other pink – are cut and polished into pear shapes.
The undoubted star of the auction to be held by Sotheby’s Geneva is Apollo, described as a “truly exceptional” 14.54 carat Fancy Vivid blue gemstone.
Because of its rarity, the stone is valued at £40m. Its twin, Artemis, is a 16-carat Fancy Intense pink diamond worth £14.5 million.
READ MORE: ‘Pink Star’ diamond sells for record $71.2 million in bidding war
The stones are currently mounted as a spectacular pair of earrings, but are being offered separately, on account of their “extreme rarity, power and presence”.
They are, says David Bennett, chairman of Sotheby’s International Jewellery Division, “by far the most important pair of earrings ever offered at auction”.
He added: “These exquisite coloured diamonds are enormously rare and each is a wonderful stone in its own right.
“Together, as a pair of earrings, they are breathtaking. We have named them after Apollo and Artemis, a twin brother and sister of great power and beauty who were among the most widely venerated of the Ancient Greek deities.”
The earrings are part of the Magnificent Jewels & Noble Jewels auction in Geneva on May 16.
READ MORE: These are the world’s most expensive gemstones after $71.2 million sale of the Pink Star
Tobias Kormind, managing director of London-based 77diamonds.com, Europe’s largest online diamond seller, said: “The extraordinary rarity of the Apollo and Artemis earrings will only match the pockets of the richest diamond investors on the planet.
“These earrings are simply gorgeous. Potential buyers for these earrings are more diverse than ever, from global jewellery retailers to wealthy private individuals.
READ MORE: For world’s super-rich, a pink diamond is forever
“This sale shines the light on the mounting appeal of world-class diamonds as an alternative asset class.”
Also coming up for sale is the world’s largest D Flawless heart shaped diamond to appear at auction, on sale at Christie’s Geneva on May 17.
The La Légende diamond pendant, by Boehmer et Bassenge, is a 92.15 carat D Flawless heart-shaped diamond on a pearl necklace, estimated at $14m to $20m.