Historic Diamonds / Famous Diamonds
The Empire Diamond Necklace is the Most Valuable Piece of Jewelry Ever Offered by Tiffany & Co.
By Grant Mobley, August 1, 2025
The Empire Diamond Necklace is Tiffany & Co.’s most valuable piece ever offered for sale—featuring an 80-carat diamond in a reimagined 1939 design. Not to be confused with the house’s iconic, but never-for-sale, Tiffany Diamond.
The Tiffany & Co. Empire Diamond Necklace (Courtesy of Tiffany & Co.)
As one of the most iconic jewelry houses in the world, Tiffany & Co. has long been associated with exceptional diamonds, timeless design, and a level of craftsmanship that sets the bar for fine jewelry. But in 2021, the 184-year-old brand reached a new milestone with the unveiling of the Empire Diamond Necklace—the most valuable piece of jewelry Tiffany has ever offered for sale.
Meet the Expert
- Grant Mobley is the Jewelry & Watch Editor of Only Natural Diamonds.
- He is a GIA Diamonds Graduate.
- He has over 17 years of jewelry industry experience, starting with growing up in his family’s retail jewelry stores.
A Historic Design, Reimagined: The Journey from World’s Fair Necklace to Empire Diamond Necklace
The Empire Diamond Necklace is not only breathtaking in appearance, but also rich in heritage. Its design is a modern reimagining of a necklace first created for the 1939 World’s Fair, where Tiffany introduced visitors to a vision of glamour and innovation with a piece that featured 429 diamonds and a 200-carat aquamarine center stone. The original necklace was sold for $28,000 at the time, an impressive sum that reflected both its craftsmanship and its place in jewelry history.
Fast forward more than eight decades, and Tiffany has taken that original Art Deco silhouette and transformed it into a truly once-in-a-generation masterpiece. The new World’s Fair Necklace, now renamed the Empire Diamond Necklace, replaces the aquamarine with something far more rare and valuable: an 80-carat D-color, internally flawless oval diamond—a gem so extraordinary that it instantly became a part of diamond history.
Empire Diamond Origins: From Botswana to Tiffany’s NYC Workshop
Discovered in Botswana more than two years before its unveiling, the rough stone that would become the Empire Diamond underwent a remarkable journey. It traveled from Botswana to Israel, where it was expertly cut, and then to Tiffany’s legendary workshop in New York City, where it was transformed into the brand’s most ambitious jewel to date.
The final result: an 80-carat oval brilliant diamond with perfect color and clarity, making it one of the most important white diamonds on the market today. D-color diamonds are chemically pure and offer the highest grade of colorless beauty, while internally flawless stones are incredibly rare, free from visible inclusions even under 10x magnification. Together, these attributes place the Empire Diamond in a league of its own.
Tiffany named the stone in honor of its hometown, New York City—the Empire State—and ensured the design lives up to that bold, iconic spirit.
The Design and Craftsmanship of the Empire Diamond
Set in platinum, the Empire Diamond Necklace features 578 diamonds in total, including 353 round brilliant stones and 224 custom-cut baguettes, all arranged in a perfectly balanced Art Deco-style that nods to Tiffany’s historic design language. But this piece isn’t just about opulence—it’s also about versatility. The Empire Diamond can be detached from the necklace and mounted into a ring by a Tiffany jeweler, giving its eventual owner not one but two statement pieces that showcase one of the world’s most extraordinary gems.
The necklace was first unveiled to a select group of VIP clients in Dubai as part of Tiffany’s Blue Book Collection event, which showcases the house’s rarest and spectacular high jewelry creations.
While Tiffany & Co. has not officially released a price for the necklace, experts estimate its value at over $20 million, making it the most expensive piece the brand has ever offered for sale.
The Empire Diamond Rivals a Legend, The Tiffany Diamond
Of course, Tiffany & Co. is also home to one diamond that’s even more valuable—though it has never been, and likely never will be, offered for sale.
That honor belongs to the legendary Tiffany Diamond, a 128.54-carat cushion-cut Fancy Yellow diamond that has become a symbol of the brand’s legacy. Unearthed in South Africa in 1877 and purchased by Tiffany founder Charles Lewis Tiffany a year later, the diamond was cut from a 287.42-carat rough and has remained in Tiffany’s collection ever since. It’s one of the largest and most celebrated yellow diamonds in the world—and it’s considered absolutely priceless.
The Tiffany Diamond has only been worn publicly by four women: Audrey Hepburn, Lady Gaga, Beyoncé, and a Tiffany executive in 1957. It has been set into only a handful of designs, most recently in 2023 to celebrate the grand reopening of Tiffany’s Landmark flagship on Fifth Avenue in New York City. Today, the diamond is on public display there, continuing to inspire with its extraordinary size and craftsmanship.
The Empire Diamond’s Place in Tiffany’s Jewelry Legacy
While the Tiffany Diamond remains the house’s most legendary gem, the Empire Diamond Necklace marks a bold new chapter in Tiffany & Co.’s ongoing legacy. Not only does it showcase the finest qualities a diamond can possess, but it also honors the brand’s design history while pushing the boundaries of modern high jewelry.
Beyoncé is the first person to wear the jewel at her 2022 Oscars afterparty at the Chateau Marmont. She then wore the necklace in her June 2022 British Vogue cover shoot photographed by Rafael Pavarotti.
It’s a piece that embodies Tiffany’s past, present, and future—a one-of-a-kind creation that may someday rival the Tiffany Diamond in lore, but stands on its own as the most valuable piece of Tiffany jewelry ever available for private ownership.
And unlike the Tiffany Diamond, this one could actually be yours—if you have a cool $20 million (and change) to spare. Either way, the Empire Diamond Necklace is already etched into the history of high jewelry as a shining example of what Tiffany does best: combine rarity, beauty, and legacy into something truly unforgettable.
