Like great art or fine wine, the rarest and most beautiful jewellery is often bought - and sold - at an auction. Buyers know it's the best place to find the truly unusual pieces, and sellers know they can get the best possible prices.
Just ask film star Ellen Barkin, who auctioned her wedding ring, rubies, sapphires and pearls after being unceremoniously dumped by her billionaire businessman husband Ronald Perelman.
Expected to earn the movie star US$15 million, Barkin walked away with a cool US$20 million.
Undoubtedly, the pieces fetching the highest prices are extraordinary. The star piece in Sotheby's most recent sale last month was a flawless, vivid blue diamond of more than six carats which, Terry Chu, Sotheby's deputy director (China and Southeast Asia) and deputy head of its jewellery department, said was one of the most fantastic stones she'd ever seen. 'This vivid blue diamond is top, top quality and very rare in the market nowadays; best clarity, best colour, and a sophisticated and clean admiral cut,' she said.
The sale also featured a Columbian emerald pendant necklace with a stone weighing more than 40 carats. The necklace used to belong to famous Broadway composer Irving Berlin. It was first sold by Sotheby's New York in 1991, and changed hands this time in Hong Kong for more than HK$20 million.
Christie's upcoming sale from November 25 will feature the largest briolette diamond to appear at an auction in Asia, weighing in at a staggering 31.92 carats, and an estimated value of HK$25 million.