Image Credit: CHRISTIE’S
When she finally contacted Christie’s in 2007, a jewellery specialist discovered an exceptional 7.81-carat fancy greyish-blue diamond that was worth far more than she had imagined. The ring, initially estimated at £300,000 to £400,000, eventually sold at auction for £2,596,000. A woman in Scotland kept a diamond ring hidden in a drawer for half a century without knowing whether it was valuable or where it had come from. The unexpected discovery became one of the memorable finds recalled by Christie’s jewellery experts.
Published on 5 May 2026 , the woman contacted the auction house’s London jewellery department after seeing a newspaper advertisement offering valuations, according to Christie’s account. A note accompanying the stone recorded a value of £65,000 in 1965. Research connected it to jewellery associated with the French crown jewels auction held at the Louvre in 1887. The brooch eventually sold for CHF 250,000 in November 2021.
The remarkable discovery began with an ordinary telephone call. Christie’s sent a senior jewellery specialist to visit her in Scotland. Max Fawcett, the auction house’s global head of jewellery, later recounted the discovery in the company’s article about valuable objects uncovered through first-time clients. The specialist examined the stone and quickly realised that it was something special. In another case, a man contacted the jewellery department about old family jewels that had belonged to his grandparents. Among boxes of gold trinkets, specialists discovered a small piece of tissue paper wrapped around a cushion-cut blue diamond. A separate enquiry in Belgium led to the discovery of a ruby and diamond brooch with an important royal history.
She was previously unknown to the company and wanted to find out whether the ring she had kept for decades had any financial value.