Sotheby’s Geneva held a jewelry auction in early November 2011, with sales totaling over 70 million dollars. Sotheby’s is the 4th oldest auction house in existence today, and this auction had one of the largest jewelry sale totals in the company’s history. While Geneva has become a hotspot for diamond purchases, this total can largely be attributed to the sale of the largest known pear-shaped fancy vivid yellow diamond ever to be discovered.

Cora International, a manufacturer of some of the largest and rarest diamonds in the world, discovered the 110.3-carat diamond, named the sun drop diamond. The diamond was found in South Africa in 2010, cut and polished by Cora, and placed on display briefly at London’s Natural History Museum in 2011. The Gemological Institute of America classified the gem as fancy vivid yellow, giving it the highest possible color grading. It is quite rare to discover a diamond with such a strong saturation of color.

Cora International is the New York based diamond manufacturer, who initially discovered the diamond in South Africa. As one of the leaders in the diamond cutting industry, Cora was able to give the gem a beautiful and exquisite pear shaped cut, contributing to its breath-taking appearance.

The sun drop diamond auctioned at a price of 12.4 million dollars to an unidentified bidder over the phone. This price set a new record for yellow diamonds sold at auction. This is not the first world auction record broken by Sotheby’s. In 2010, Sotheby’s Geneva sold a 24.78-carat fancy intense pink diamond for over 46 million dollars. This set the world auction record for any diamond and any jewel.

The auction was overall a wonderful success for Sotheby’s Geneva. Including the record-breaking sale of the South African diamond, over 80% of the pieces available found buyers. This includes the sale of an exquisite cushion-shaped 38.88-carat diamond for close to 7 million dollars. If this auction is to be taken as an indication, 2012 is to be a great year for Sotheby’s, and a fantastic year for the diamond industry as a whole.

Elizabeth Taylor was an icon and most notable was her amazing jewelry collection. Allegedly, Elizabeth Taylor had a lot of cash, but she also had an impressive jewelry collection. Her jewelry collection included a ruby and diamond necklace given to her by her ex-husband Mike Todd, a 33.19 carat diamond gifted from her most famous and well known husband, Richard Burton.

She also had a great a one-of-a-kind 69.42 carat pear shaped diamond earrings, which cost Liz $1 million in 1969. Her memory lives on through her amazing jewels.

Celebrities…they are the people we love to love, love to hate, read all about, spend time watching, and in some cases dedicate much of our time to. These are the people that make us laugh, cry, happy, sad…and very envious! Big name celebrities are the ones that seem to have it all including the perfect partners, the most incredible houses, bags of money…and diamonds worth more money than many of us would ever see in a lifetime – perhaps even two lifetimes!

Most celebrities love diamonds, and when they add to their collection of stunning rocks they make sure that the rest of the world knows about it! Here are some of the celebrity diamonds that have made the headlines over recent years – leaving the majority of us as green as emeralds with envy!!

J-Lo and Ben Affleck

Most of us will remember enviously reading about the huge 6 carat pink diamond that Affleck bought for Jen when they got engaged. The stunning diamond ring that she got was worth around one million dollars. Sadly, whilst diamonds are forever their engagement wasn’t and the couple split before making it down the aisle.

J-Lo and Marc Anthony

Whilst Jenny from the Block took great care in telling us ‘Don’t be fooled by the rocks that I got’ she certainly doesn’t seem averse to flashing them around for all the world to see. Her next engagement saw her receive an 8.5 carat square cut engagement ring worth over one million dollars.

Jay-z and Beyonce

When Beyonce belted out ‘If you liked it then you shoulda put a ring on it’ her beau, rapper Jay-z, made it clear that he did indeed like it. And the ring he put on it was a fabulous 18 carat flawless diamond one, which was said to be worth around five million dollars!

Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes

Pint sized Hollywood superstar Tom Cruise did things in style when he proposed to actress Katie Holmes. He waited until dawn before proposing to his then girlfriend – on top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris. Here is present the lucky lady with a 5 carat oval diamond, which was encased in rose gold and platinum.

Whilst most of us would never be able to stretch to the cost of the diamonds that celebrities give to one another it is clear to see that diamonds are as much a hit with the stars of the big screen and music as they are with the rest of us.