- [Narrator] Before
being set into jewelry, gemstones go through a variety
(light upbeat music) of steps to ensure they're cut and polished
in the most efficient way. That means often the
stone that you're wearing came from a much larger chunk. Some of these huge uncut, rough gemstones are mind-blowing especially
as you consider their price. Coming up are 10 of the largest and most expensive gemstones of all time. Let's get started! (comical music) - Amazing! - [Narrator] Number 10, The Empress of Uruguay.
(light upbeat music) At a height of 3.27 meters, or 11 feet, and a weight of more than 2,200 kilograms, or 4800 pounds, which is
35 adult humans combined, the Empress of Uruguay stands at Crystal Caves Museum
in Atherton, Australia, as the world's largest amethyst geode. What's a geode, you ask? Simple, it's a geological formation that develops within
sedimentary and volcanic rocks. They're hollow, which gives crystal enough space to form inside. For example, this image
of a humongous geode with several openings showing
thousands upon thousands of amethyst crystals was posted on Reddit. Reddit user growingt
conservatively estimated its value to be around $70,000
based on eBay listings that priced every half square meter of amethyst geodes at $1,500. The truth is it's likely
worth far more due to the fact it's a complete stone. But what about the Empress of Uruguay? Well, way back in 2007, this geode housing tens of thousands of
gem-quality amethyst crystal was purchased for $75,000
(cash register ringing) by Rene and Nelleke Boissevain, the founders of the aforementioned
Crystal Caves Museum. And while the Empress of Uruguay
is currently not for sale, that hasn't stopped
people from sending offers as high as $190,000.
(cash register ringing) Number nine, Sunrise Ruby. Let me ask you a question. After a diamond, what's
the most expensive gemstone you can think of? Most people answer ruby,
and the Sunrise Ruby is the prettiest of them all. Being the world's most expensive ruby, just how much is it? In May 2015, the 25.59-carat Sunrise Ruby was sold at a Sotheby's
auction in Geneva, Switzerland, for a whopping $30.42 million,
(cash register ringing) nearly three times more than
the 11.8 million starting bid. Carats, in case you didn't know, is the weight of the stone,
equivalent to 0.2 grams. But while the Sunrise Ruby is
the priciest ruby of all time, it isn't the biggest of its kind. That title belongs to
the Liberty Bell Ruby. This gemstone is the largest
mined ruby in the world, which didn't become the
famous Liberty Bell Ruby until 1976 when a sculptor
named Alfonso de Vivanco worked on the gemstone
for a jewelry company called the Kazanjian Brothers. The ruby was to be sculpted in the form of the iconic Liberty Bell for the United States Bicentennial. And while the ruby was already impressive at 1.8 kilograms, or four pounds, which is 8,500 carats, it was further adorned with 50 diamonds. Since then, the Liberty Bell Ruby has been valued at 2 million.
(cash register ringing) Unlike the Sunrise Ruby, it's
impossible to see through it, since it's opaque, which
is why it's less valuable. However, there's one bigger
problem than its clarity. It's nowhere to be found as it was stolen in November of 2011 at a
jewelry store in Delaware. The culprits have been arrested, but authorities aren't
confident they'd find the ruby anytime soon. It's likely been cut up and sold on. Number eight, Oppenheimer Blue Diamond. Colored diamonds are widely sought after not only for their rarity and toughness but also for their sheer brilliance. After all, who wouldn't want a diamond of their favorite color? In the case of blue-colored diamonds, the Oppenheimer Blue is king. Named after its previous
owner Philip Oppenheimer, the blue diamond has 14.62 carats, far larger than 90% of
all the blue diamonds that only have a single carat at most. Moreover, it has the highest
color rating of fancy vivid, given only to the rarest and most outstanding color diamonds. Weighing nearly three grams, the Oppenheimer Blue is the
largest vivid blue diamond ever put for auction. In May 2016, it was sold at Christie's in Geneva, Switzerland, for $57.5 million
(cash register ringing) or a staggering 3.93 million
(cash register ringing) per carat, making it the most
expensive gemstone per carat and most expensive diamond ever sold for a brief period of time. Number seven, Pink Star Diamond. The Oppenheimer Blue Diamond
only had about a year to celebrate as the most expensive diamond ever put up for auction. By April 2017, the Pink
Star Diamond took the title when it was sold for 71.2 million
(cash register ringing) at Sotheby's Hong Kong. This colored diamond weighed 11.92 grams, or half an ounce, and had 59.60 carats, which meant that each carat was valued at $1.2 million.
(cash register ringing) It was actually sold much earlier in November 2013 for a higher price, 83 million,
(cash register ringing) but the buyer named Isaac Wolf
never gave the full payment, so the Pink Star was sent
back to the inventory. Overall, the Pink Star
Diamond is the largest diamond with a vivid pink rating,
meaning that it has the highest possible color rating just like the Oppenheimer Blue Diamond. But now that it belongs to Hong Kong-based jewelry
retailer Chow Tai Fook, you'd have to call it by its new name, the CTF Pink. Number six, The Pearl. Let me get one thing straight,
The Pearl isn't a pearl. It's actually a giant stone primarily made of the mineral fluorite. What makes it appealing? Apart from its size, The Pearl
also glows green in the dark. So imagine having a natural
glow-in-the-dark structure in your property, one
that's 1.5 meters tall and weighs 5,443 kilograms, equivalent to 12,000 pounds or nearly 88 adult human beings. Still, you'd need a bit of money, about 110 million.
(cash register ringing) After all, this humongous
stone first discovered in Inner Mongolia needed three years of cutting and polishing
before it could become the pearl-shaped giant it is today. You might be wondering who'd
want a large green ball but remember that China
loves green-colored gemstones like this more than diamonds. Plus, in Buddhism, luminous
stones are also known as Chintamani, jewels that help believers attain the wisdom of Buddha. Number five, Myanmar Giant Jade Stone. Speaking of China's love for green, take a look at this huge jade stone. If you didn't know, the translucent and
rare imperial green jade is worth more per gram
than diamonds in China. That's why all eyes were on
the state of Kachin, Myanmar, when a giant jade stone was uncovered in a remote mine in October 2016. According to the BBC, the
4.3-meter-tall jade stone was worth around $170 million. Just how big is the jade stone? It's 4.3 meters high, 5.8 meters long, and weighs a whopping 175,000 kilograms, equivalent to 380,000 pounds, or as heavy as 32 adult Asian elephants. With its size, it can easily be used to produce thousands of
jewelry and sculptures. In fact, the giant jade stone
was immediately imported to China after its discovery. The huge stone might
not look impressive now, but extensive cutting and
polishing will eventually reveal the high quality and
vibrant green gemstones. Number four, Star of
Adam Blue Star Sapphire. The Oppenheimer Blue Diamond isn't the only rare blue
gemstone on this list. The oval-shaped Star of
Adam is the largest sapphire in the world, weighing 1,404.49 carats, or 280.89 grams, which is 0.6 pounds. And even if its blue shimmer
doesn't have a color rating unlike the Pink Star and the
Oppenheimer Blue Diamond, the Star of Adam is already more expensive than both of them. Found in the so-called
City of Gems of Ratnapura in Sri Lanka in August 2015, the minimum estimated
value of the Star of Adam is already 100 million,
(cash register ringing) with the anonymous owner
saying it's worth 300 million. Luckily for everyone,
there's a good chance it will be open for viewing in the future. According to the owner, the Star of Adam isn't a piece of jewelry
but an exhibition piece, so they are currently
searching for a museum or gem collector. Number three, Bahia Emerald. Looks like green is
the dominant color here as I introduce to you the Bahia Emerald. While it's only the
fourth largest gemstone in terms of size, it's still one of the largest
emeralds ever discovered. Found in Bahia, Brazil, the emerald weighs 341.101 kilograms which is 750 pounds, or 1.7 million carats. And no, you didn't hear that wrong. The Bahia Emerald contains
1.7 million carats. The value of the Bahia Emerald has ranged from a low of 250 million
(cash register ringing) to a high of 925 million,
(cash register ringing) and its true value remains
unknown but it's been valued at 400 million
(cash register ringing) for quite some time now. Amusingly enough, for
such a rare gemstone, the Bahia Emerald was once put on eBay with a buy it now price
of just 75 million. In addition, the gemstone
has gone through a lot in the past. It was almost washed away
during Hurricane Katrina in 2005 in New Orleans, then it
was stolen from a vault in South El Monte, Southern
California, in 2008. Lastly, there was a legal
battle over who really owns the $400 million emerald, with FH Holdings currently
having exclusive ownership as of 2015. Number two, Guinness Emerald. While this emerald doesn't
have 1.7 million carats, its 1,759 carats are
enough to place its value at 500 million.
(cash register ringing) That's half a billion
dollars for an uncut stone weighing 351 grams. Discovered at the
Coscuez Mine in Columbia, the Guinness Emerald is
now owned by Fura Gems and is on exhibit in the Bank
of the Republic of Colombia. Now, before I unveil the
most expensive gemstone in the world, let me
acknowledge a few other stones that are worth mentioning. First up, check out this massive chunk of quartz in Arkansas. The photo went viral on
Reddit and was described as a $4 million chunk of quartz. But the real value is slightly less, at 3 1/2 million.
(cash register ringing) The smiling man you see is no visitor. He's actually part of the
team who spent four days extracting the 2.43-meter long, 907-kilogram chunk of quartz. Another worthy mention is the Golden Jubilee, a black opal valued at almost 6.8 million
(cash register ringing) and is the largest Australian
black opal ever found. It was bought by opal
specialist Tibor Shelley in Lightning Ridge in 2004,
and the Golden Jubilee weighed 755.36 carats, with each carat valued at
a minimum of $9,000 each. Speaking of Australia, there's also the $2.5 million,
(cash register ringing) 17,00-carat Olympic Australis Opal, found in 1956 and named in honor of the Olympic Games in
Melbourne at the time. Moving on, it wouldn't be complete list if I didn't show off the
largest aquamarine in the world. Discovered in Minas Gerais, Brazil, about 26 years ago and named after the first emperor of Brazil, the Dom Pedro aquamarine was the largest of three pieces found in the mine. It originally weighed almost 27 kilograms before it was cut and polished. Now the Dom Pedro aquamarine
is almost 35 centimeters tall and weighs 10,363 carats, or around 2.26 kilograms,
which is five pounds. The beautiful stone is valued at $5 to $6 million.
(cash register ringing) Number one, The Cullinan Diamond. A captain named Frederick Wells discovered this magnificent beauty at the Premier Mine in South Africa way, way back in January 1905. It was so big he thought it
was just a shard of glass placed in the mine wall
as a practical joke. But upon taking it out, he
realized that it was indeed one massive diamond. It was then named after
the owner of the mine, Sir Thomas Cullinan. Soon after, the Cullinan Diamond was bought for $750,000
(cash register ringing) by the Transvaal colony
government, which is equivalent to nearly 19 million today
(cash register ringing) once adjusted for inflation. Here's the funny thing,
Prime Minister Louis Botha suggested for the diamond to be given as a present to King Edward VII. The majority voted against it but that didn't stop
British Prime Minister Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman from offering the Cullinan Diamond to the king. It took the persuasive
skills of Winston Churchill for King Edward VII to accept the gift and have it presented to
him on his 66th birthday on November 9th, 1907. So, how much is it today? Well, with an estimated price of more than 2 billion,
(cash register ringing) this is the one diamond to
rule over all other gemstones. Otherwise known as The Star of Africa, this white diamond weighs 621.35 grams which is 1.36 pounds, or 3,106.75 carats, which means that each carat is worth at least $643,000.
(cash register ringing) Today, the Cullinan Diamond is divided into nine large stones
and 96 smaller fragments, all of which are available
for public viewing at Buckingham Palace
and the Tower of London. So, what would you do if you
found one of these gemstones? Sell it, or keep it? Let me know your thoughts in the comments section down below. Thanks for watching!
