Rare emerald and diamond tiara fetches world record £7.8m

May 18, 2011 |

London

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A glittering tiara with 11 Colombian pear-shaped emeralds and weighing over 500 carats has become the world’s most expensive tiara after it was sold for a record of 7.8 million pounds to an anonymous buyer at Sotheby’s.

The diamond and emerald tiara, which was created by German prince Guido Henckel von Donnersmarck’s for his second wife Katharina, is believed to have belonged to Eugenie, wife of Napoleon III.

According to the auction house, the tiara had top lot at a sale that netted 78.9 million Swiss francs, and it was the third highest for a jewellery sale.

“It is needless to say a world record price at auction for a tiara,” the Telegraph quoted David Bennett, chairman of Sotheby's Europe and Middle East jewellery department, as saying.

The tiara was auctioned at Switzerland.

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