In Ten Of The World's Most Expensive Jewels

Fortunately, there is plenty to choose from at the top end of the jewelry market, where "big-stone" pieces from couture designers and jewelers along Fifth Avenue, Rodeo Drive and Bond Street are currently all the rage. "Diamond trading companies have done a good job of promoting single-stone and three-stone pieces recently, resulting in fewer overall unit sales, but much higher dollar value per piece," notes Nancy Robey, vice president of global new business development at the VNU Expositions Jewelry Group, which runs the Annual Couture Jewellery Collection & Conference in Las Vegas. "Hollywood glamour has also been driving a lot of interest in diamonds, which are everywhere these days, and consumers are going into retailers and requesting grand red-carpet looks."