The seven most expensive jade necklaces in history, each one is top-notch!

In recent years, jadeite bead necklaces have been sold at auctions for tens of millions of yuan , and sometimes even over 100 million yuan . Why can such tiny beads repeatedly create sky-high prices? Why are jade necklaces so expensive?

The jade bead necklace is made of round beads strung together, which symbolizes perfection and flawlessness. However, it is extremely difficult to find a top-quality jade bead necklace that is rich in color, round and flawless. The process from cutting the raw stones to stringing them into a chain is very difficult.

0 1

“Small raw stones” cannot be made into jade beads

A jade bead necklace uses about 30 beads, which consumes a lot of material. The best jade bead necklace requires uniform color and size, and it is best if they come from the same piece of raw stone.

Therefore, the jadeite raw stone that can be made into a top-quality bead necklace must not only be of excellent material, with most obvious and uniform color bands, no knots or cracks, and few inclusions, but also must be of sufficient volume. Often, it takes dozens of kilograms of top-quality raw stones to make a top-quality bead necklace.

0 2

The difficulty of full manual rounding is extremely high

Beads are one of the most classic jadeite cut styles. It looks simple, but the craftsmanship required is no less than that of carving. Its outline must be smooth and symmetrical, with a harmonious length-to-width ratio to achieve the best visual effect.

Moreover, all these beads are ground by hand. It is not easy to grind all the beads into the same roundness and size or arrange them smoothly in gradient sizes. Moreover, there are very few people who can grind beads now.

0 3

The process is time-consuming and the cutting risk is high

To make a top-quality bead necklace, you first need to cut the selected material into small pieces, then slowly grind it into round beads, and finally drill holes and thread the chain. The whole process is very wasteful. At the same time, in order to ensure sufficient quality, it is necessary to cut three times more beads than the necklace itself for selection.

The most important thing is to choose the beads from the best color part of the raw material. But it is not the same for bracelets and pendants. As long as there is a little green in it, the value will increase greatly. So after all the good colors of the jade bead necklace have been used up, the material of other parts of the raw stone will be greatly discounted.

04

The cost is so high that merchants are afraid

Jade bead necklaces require so much material and require a huge amount of money to produce. For jade merchants at the source, this is obviously a very unprofitable deal. Therefore, even though the price of jade bead necklaces is several digits higher than that of egg-shaped jade beads and bracelets, since the number of people with the money to buy them is relatively limited, people at the source of jade still prefer to cut the raw materials into egg-shaped jade beads and bracelets that save materials and have a fast turnover. For them, this is the way to maximize their profits.

Only merchants with sufficient funds and courage will choose to make jade bead necklaces. In addition, the raw materials are scarce, so jade bead necklaces on the market are even scarcer, and the price is self-evident.

It is based on the above reasons that the bead necklace has become a luxury item among jade collections.

Let’s take a look at the seven most expensive jadeite beads in history at auctions.

TOP1

Sold price: HK$214 million

Auction year: 2014 Sotheby's Spring Auction

This jade necklace named Mdivani has 27 beads in total, each bead is about 15.4-19.2mm in size and about 530mm in length. It was once owned by the peerless socialite Barbara Hutton. It is rumored that it was designed by Cartier based on the imperial beads of the Qing Dynasty and is now part of the Cartier collection .

This jade necklace has been auctioned three times. It was first sold in 1988 for a whopping US$2 million (approximately HK$15.6 million), making it the world's highest-priced jade jewelry piece at auction at the time and the first jade necklace in history to be sold for tens of millions of dollars.

In 1994, the necklace was sold at Sotheby's Hong Kong, and the transaction price soared to US$4.2 million (approximately HK$33 million). In 2014, it was bought back by Cartier at Sotheby's for US$27.5846 million (approximately HK$214 million) , setting a new world auction record for jade jewelry. It still holds the record for the most expensive jade necklace .

TOP2

Sold price: HK$106 million

Auction Year: 2012 Tiancheng International Autumn Auction

This jade necklace consists of 23 beads, each with a diameter ranging from 20.71-27.35 mm. It was sold at the Tiancheng International Autumn Auction in 2012 for HK$106 million, setting a new world auction record for a single piece of jade jewelry at the time.

TOP3

Sold price: HK$95.72 million

Auction year: Christie’s Autumn Auction 2017

This jade necklace consists of 29 beads with a diameter of approximately 14.7 to 15.9 mm. It was sold at Christie's Autumn Auction in 2017 for HK$95.72 million, more than twice the reserve price.

TOP4

Sold price: HK$80.7 million

Auction year: 2020 Sotheby’s Spring Auction

This jade necklace consists of 37 beads and was sold for HK$80.7 million at Sotheby's Spring Auction in 2020 , making it the jadeite item with the highest transaction price this year.

TOP5

Sold price: HK$73 million

Auction year: Christie’s Autumn Auction 2019

This jade bead necklace comes from two almost identical raw stones, so it is named "A Match Made in Heaven". The diameter of each jade bead is approximately 12.37 to 15.90 mm.

TOP6

Sold price: HK$72.62 million

Auction year: 1997 Christie's Hong Kong Autumn Auction

This jade necklace named "Double Color" is composed of 27 full green jade beads. Each bead is about 15.5mm in diameter. It was sold for HK$72.62 million at Christie's Autumn Auction in Hong Kong in 1997, setting an auction record at the time. According to the jade market conditions in recent years, "Double Color" is currently worth at least HK$150 million.

TOP7

Sold price: HK$62.96 million

Auction year: 2020 Sotheby’s Autumn Auction

This jade necklace is made up of 43 beads with a diameter of 12.55-13.69mm. It is the second jade necklace this year to be ranked among the top seven in terms of transaction price in history. It not only demonstrates the strength of jade necklaces in the auction market, but also highlights the stability and strength of the jade market under the current economic situation.

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