Most expensive emerald sold at auction

The highest price realized for a single emerald is 7,765,000 Swiss francs ($8.83 m; £6.85 m) – including buyer's premium – for the 37-carat Aga Khan Emerald, the centrepiece of a diamond-bordered platinum and 18-karat gold brooch which sold at Christie's in Geneva, Switzerland, on 12 November 2024.

The Cartier brooch was commissioned by Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan in 1960 for his then wife, British socialite Nina Dyer. It previously sold at this same auction house in 1969 to raise money for animal welfare causes; at that sale, it was purchased by French jewellers Van Cleef & Arpels for 900,000 Swiss francs ($205,486).

This surpassed the previous record auction price for an emerald of $6,578,500 (£4,212,400; €4,949,740) – including buyer's premium – for a BVLGARI emerald and diamond pendant brooch which sold at Christie's in New York City, USA, on 13 December 2011. That emerald, believed to originate from Colombia, weighed 23.46 carats.