Rocks of the stars

MONEY IS NO OBJECT

Elizabeth Taylor once said, “Big girls need big diamonds”. From glittering shiny white diamonds to those in shades of blue and pink named after Greek gods, this list of the top five most expensive earrings is filled with big diamonds, rare pearls and gorgeous emeralds

These emerald beauties gained widespread recognition after Oscarwinning actress Angelina Jolie wore them to the Academy Awards ceremony in 2009. Designed by Lorraine Schwartz, an American bespoke high-end jewellery designer, the earrings have two deep emerald stones, one larger and teardrop in shape, the other smaller and round. The stones are held in a silver setting.

2. EMPRESS EUGENIE $3.3 MILLION

Napoleon Bonaparte offered these exquisite earrings as a bridal gift to Empress Eugenie, the last empress of France, in order to woo her before marrying her. In 2014 the auction house, Doyle, surprised the world when they auctioned the flawless, unblemished pearl earrings for $3.3 million in New York City, setting a new record. The drop oval-shaped earrings have natural grey pearls – perhaps the most rare and, thus, most expensive of all pearls. Each pearl is suspended from a 3.01-carat brilliant cut diamond. In the 1920s, the earrings were covered in with antique silver and diamond caps on a platinum pendant.

3. THE ORIENTAL SUNRISE $11.5 MILLION

This pair of earrings is named “The Oriental Sunrise” due to the orangeyellow oval diamond pendant that’s the focal point. Each diamond weighs 20.20 and 11.96 carats, and it has additional diamonds in the link and mounting.

4. MIROIR DE L‘AMOUR $17.5 MILLION

Mounted in gold, these pear-shaped diamond pendants are comprised of shiny white diamonds made with a graded 50.47 carats – bearing the highest grade for transparent, colourless dimes.

5 APOLLO AND ARTEMIS $57.4 MILLION

These earrings set the world record for the most expensive pair ever auctioned after being sold for $57.4 million. The blue and pink drop shaped diamonds, named Apollo and Artemis after the Greek gods, were auctioned off at Sotheby’s last year. Both bought by the same buyer, the blue (a 14.54-carat gem) was sold for over $42 million and with a rare grading of 11b, it accounts for only 1% of diamonds in the world. The pink (16-carat) was sold for over

$15 million and was classified as an 11a diamond, “the most chemically pure” of its kind.

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