Sotheby’s will sell the most valuable emerald and diamond tiara to have appeared at auction in over 30 years in its sale of Magnificent and Noble Jewels in Geneva on May 17.



Estimated to sell for $5-10 million, the highly important emerald and diamond tiara is composed of 11 exceptionally rare Colombian emerald pear-shaped drops that weigh over 500 carats in total and may well have originally adorned the neck of a Maharajah. These emeralds are also believed to have been in the personal collection of Empress Eugenie.

The tiara was commissioned circa 1900, possibly from the renowned jewelers Chaumet, by Guido Count von Henckel, First Prince von Donnersmarck, for his second wife Princess Katharina. The jewelry collection of the Donnersmarcks was known to be on a par with, or even to have exceeded, those of many of the crowned heads of Europe.