With an eye on key acquisitions for planned Harry Winston museum in New York, the Harry Winston group paid $5.5 million, or $305,000 per carat for the 18.04 carat Rockefeller Emerald at the Christie’s New York auction.
The stone is now officially the most expensive emerald ever sold at auction.
Harry Winston, which is owned by the Swatch Group, was determined that the emerald be acquired and CEO Nayla Hayek had reportedly tasked CFO Robert Scott with the specific task of ensuring a winning bid.
John D. Rockefeller bought the emerald in 1930 as a centrepiece of a brooch for his wife Abby. When she died in 1948, Rockefeller’s youngest son David inherited the stone and had it reset in a platinum ring. The ring was later bought by an American collector.
https://www.gemkonnect.com/news/harry-winston-buys-rockefeller-emerald-museum-record-55m