1.

Koh-i-Noor Diamond, a British Crown Jewel

The Koh-i-Noor is a 106 carat diamond which was once the largest
diamond in the world. Previously, it has belonged to various rulers in
India; today it lies in the hands of the British royal family and is part of the
Crown Jewels.
When the Koh-i-noor Diamond arrived in the hands of the British
royal family it weighed 186 carats (37 grams). Prince Albert carefully
searched for a diamond cutter with a very good reputation and headed to
the Netherlands where he gave the mission of cutting the diamond to a
certain Mr. Cantor, who began the difficult task. It was then presented to
Queen Victoria. It became one of the Crown Jewels, and was last worn by

the Queen Mother during her coronation as a mark of her becoming

Empress of India.
2. The
Millennium,
a
Football-Sized
Carved
Sapphire
The
football-sized
Millennium Sapphire, a gem
carved with the likenesses of
famous historical figures, is
available for sale if the right
buyer can come up with $180
million and promise that the
61,500-carat marvel will be
housed where the public can
view it on a regular basis.
Designed by Italian artist
Alessio Boschi, the Millennium
Sapphire was conceived as a
tribute to human genius and
includes 134 subjects, including
the
faces
of
Beethoven,
Michelangelo,
Shakespeare,
Albert Einstein, and Martin
Luther King, Jr.
A consortium of investors
led by Daniel McKinney owns
the Millennium Sapphire. Over
the
past
15
years,
the
impressive carved sapphire has
been on public display only
twice in 2002 during the
Academy Awards and two years
later for the maiden voyage of
the Sapphire Princess cruise
liner.
The 28 cm (11 inch) Millennium Sapphire was unearthed in
Madagascar in 1995. It weighed about 90,000 carats in its rough state and
lost about a third of its mass during the carving process, which took two
years and was completed in 2000.

3. Dom Pedro, the World's Biggest Aquamarine Gem

The largest single piece of cut-gem aquamarine in the world, this

precious stone is on permanent exhibition in Washington alongside the
Hope Diamond and Marie Antoinette's earrings.
Mined from a Brazilian pegmatite in the 1980s, and named for
Brazil's first two emperors, the Dom Pedro Aquamarine occupies a
distinguished place at the National Museum of Natural History, part of the
Smithsonian Institution.
The obelisk-shaped, blue-green gem, which was designed by famed
German gem cutter Bernd Munsteiner, known as the "father of the fantasy
cut," stands 14 inches (35.5 centimeters) tall and weighs 10,363 carats, or
4.6 pounds (two kilograms).

4. World's Largest Pearl

On November 21, 2010, the world's largest luminous pearl was

displayed in Wenchang in South China's Hainan province. Weighing six
tons and measuring 1.6 meters in diameter, the pearl is the largest ever
discovered and is estimated to be worth two billion yuan ($301.197
million); in China pearls are prized more highly than diamonds.
The stone, formed mostly of fluorite mineral, glows green in the
dark. Its finders took three years to grind the raw gem down to its pearl
shape.

5. The Graff Pink, the World's Most Expensive Pink Diamond

Laurence Graff is the world's number one dealer in diamonds and

gems, but in 2010 he made sure that this reputation was confirmed with
the purchase of the stunning 24.78 carat rare pink diamond.
He is also Britain's richest living art buyer, splashing $24.1m in New
York on two of Warhol's best works - "Elvis" and "Campbell's Soup Can."
Laurence Graff also owns five luxurious homes in England, France,
Switzerland, and New York, as well as a private Mediterranean yacht. He
also owns his own diamond mine outside of Johannesburg, along with half
a dozen properties in Mayfair.
The amazing potentially flawless pink diamond has set a new
record with the auction price stunning the staff at Sotheby's. The auction
was laced with gasps as the bids kept coming in. Pink Diamonds UK had
never seen such excitement. Britain's 36th richest man and Diamond
geezer eventually paid 29 million ($45 million), the most ever paid for a
jewel.
6. Ethereal Carolina Divine, the Largest Cut Paraiba Tourmaline

Montreal financier Vincent Boucher is the owner of the Ethereal

Carolina Divine Paraiba, a Paraiba tourmaline with a mass of nearly 192
carats that is valued at between $25 million and $125 million. This sets a
new world record for the largest cut Paraiba tourmaline.
Paraiba tourmaline is one of the rarest jewelry gems in the world,
favored by connoisseur collectors and showcased by elite jewelers
worldwide. There is one Paraiba tourmaline (named for the Brazilian
region where the vast majority are found, including Boucher's) mined for
every 10,000 diamonds, and Boucher pointed out that only a total of 50
kilograms
of
the
gem
have
been
recovered
to
date.

7. Massive Uncut 478-Carat Diamond

A massive 478-carat diamond was found at the Letseng Mine in

Lesotho, a small kingdom in South Africa. It is the 20th largest rough
diamond ever found, and it came from a mine that has already delivered
three of the world's largest diamonds: the 603-carat Lesotho Promise, the
493-carat Leteng Legacy and the 601-carat Lesotho Brown. A similar but
smaller-sized rough stone has recently been valued at $12 million. It is
hoped that the uncut diamond will be capable of producing a 150-carat
polished gem stone, dwarfing the current largest gem, the Koh-i-Noor
Diamond.

8. World's Most Expensive Gemstone Per Carat Sold at Auction

Identified as one of the unique gems in the world, a flawless blue

diamond was honored in 2007 as the most expensive gemstone in the
world. The 6.04-carat diamond was sold for $7.98 million at Sotheby's
auction in Hong Kong. The flawless blue diamond fetched $1.32 million
per carat.
The blessed buyer is Moussaieff Jewelers based in London, who was
glad to purchase this diamond from a private Asian collector, as it would
be an addition to their rare collection of precious jewels. Blue diamonds
are known for captivating the filthy rich gentry with glittering dark
charisma. True, it is not the largest stone, but its revered cut and "vibrant
blue" hue is what justifies its bulky price, which is almost ten times the
per-carat price of regular white diamonds.
9. Bahia Emerald, the World's Largest

The Bahia Emerald is one of the largest emeralds and contains the
largest single shard ever found. The approximately 840 lb (1,900,000carat) stone originated from Bahia State in Brazil. It narrowly escaped
flooding during Hurricane Katrina in 2005 during a period of storage in a
warehouse in New Orleans. In September 2008, tt was subsequently
reported stolen from a secured vault in South El Monte in Los Angeles
County, California. While the stone has been valued at some $400 million,
the true value is unclear. At one point, the emerald was listed for sale on
eBay for a "Buy It Now" price of $75 million.
After being moved from Brazil to the United States, various
attempts were made to sell it without success; there were conflicting
claims of ownership. Eventually, the emerald was seized from a gem
dealer in Las Vegas and taken into the custody of the Los Angeles Sheriff's
Department.