The legendary biannual jewelry auctions in Geneva are right around the corner. With that in mind, we’re taking a look back at some of the statement gems and noble jewels that have smashed records at auction in years past—specifically, the history-making pieces that are fitted with rubies.
Here are five of the of the most expensive ruby jewelry pieces ever sold at auction and a little information about each of them.

The Sunrise Ruby and Diamond Ring by Cartier – $30,335,698 USD

Sold by Sotheby’s at their May 2015 Geneva auction, this extraordinary ring broke records and, likely, a few hearts. The center gemstone was a 25.59-carat Mogok Burmese ruby that was accompanied by a report from the SSEF (the Swiss Foundation for the Research of Gemstones) and from Gübelin (one of the foremost gem labs in the world). The reports verify the ruby’s Burmese origin and “pigeon-blood” color and certify that there was no indication of heat treatment.

The Sotheby’s catalog noted at the time that the ruby “displays a homogeneous and richly saturated ‘pigeon blood red’ colour, which typifies the finest of these gems. The depth of colour, combined with a high clarity and brilliance, all contribute to the beauty of the gem. The shape and finely proportioned cut provides vivid internal colour reflections.”

The ruby was set into a platinum signed and numbered Cartier mounting and flanked by shield-shaped diamonds weighing 2.47 and 2.70 carats each.

The Graff Ruby Ring – $8,600,410 USD

Another expensive ruby ring sold at a Sotheby’s Geneva auction is the Graff Ruby, which was sold back to an earlier owner – Laurence Graff – in November of 2014. The cushion-cut, Burmese ruby, also of “pigeon blood red” color, weighs 8.62 carats and is set between triangle-shaped diamonds in a white metal mounting accompanied by bead-set round brilliant cut diamonds.

A Diamond Brooch containing 10.10 Carat Burmese Ruby – $8,428,127 USD

At a November 2014 auction held by Christie’s in Hong Kong, an incredible signed Cartier platinum, diamond, and Burmese ruby brooch fetched a whopping $8.4 million. The brooch contained a 10.10 carat Mogok Burmese ruby (“pigeon’s blood” in color), and, according to the Christie’s description, the ruby “exhibits a saturated and vivid red colour combined with a fine purity and a very attractive cutting style. The tiny inclusions found by microscopic inspection represent the hallmarks of rubies from the classical ruby mines in Mogok Valley in Burma.”

The brooch was also outfitted with four triangle-shaped white, natural diamonds in its corners and twelve additional square-cut diamonds throughout.

The Patiño Ruby and Diamond Ring – $6,736,750 USD

In May of 2012, a 32.08 carat ruby set into a gold Chaumet ring with trapeze cut side stones hit the auction block. The ring fetched almost 7 million dollars at Christie’s Geneva auction that year, and for good reason. The Patiño Ruby once belonged to Luz Mila Patiño, Countess du Boisrouvray and daughter of Bolivian tin tycoon Simon Patiño, who was also related closely to Prince Rainier of Monaco. Countess Patiño was known for her jewelry collection, which was largely auctioned off by her daughter to use for charitable purposes.

The Queen of Burma – $6,084,559 USD

Once belonging to His Highness Khengarji III, the Maharaja of Kutch, the Queen of Burma ruby ring was sold at the November 2014 Christie’s auction in Geneva. The pinkish-red, oval-shaped Burmese ruby weighed approximately 23.66 carats and was claw-set into a platinum and baguette diamond platinum signed Cartier mounting. This marvelous specimen was sold at a for just over 6 million U.S. dollars.

TAG Heuer is attached to connotations of prestige brought by the horological advancements that the brand made as well as the association with glamorous and dangerous races and movie-star race car drivers. It’s an innovator in the field of horology, with such accolades as being the first to create a chronograph dashboard clock and incorporating a rotating bezel into the design of a watch. This so clearly demonstrates why TAG Heuer watches are often replicated on the black market. To protect yourself from falling for a fake TAG Heuer watch scam, follow this guide we’ve put together to distinguishing a real TAG Heuer from a counterfeit.

The Dial
Though TAG Heuer watches tend to run at a much more affordable price point than, say, a Rolex or an Omega, the brand never sacrifices the quality of its products for cheap production. The dial is always very telling when it comes to sussing out a counterfeit watch, and because the dials on TAG Heuer watches are made to fit the brand’s exacting specifications, even the slightest mistake will be a clear giveaway to the timepiece’s artifice.

The Face
Like all luxury watches, TAG Heuer models have sapphire crystal guarding the face of the watch. This material is scratch-resistant and incredibly refined. To test whether the material on the face of your watch is sapphire crystal or just plain old glass, smear a drop of water or two on the surface. Sapphire crystal should not disturb the water’s surface tension, so it should pool together on the crystal. On glass, however, the water would disperse unevenly.

On the actual face of the watch, you should first and foremost find the phrase “Swiss Made” at the 6 o’clock marker. Some counterfeits have “Japanese Movement” across that marker, which would never appear on a TAG Heuer, or even nothing at all.

In addition to that, make sure that the TAG Heuer logo is cleanly cut and pressed into the steel of the dial, not glued on. If you find glue residue or uneven edges on the logo, then you know that you have a counterfeit on your hands.

The Lumes
TAG Heuer uses LumiNova technology, which ensures that the lumes are incredibly bright and sharp in the dark. If your watch does not glow brilliantly in the dark, even after it’s been charged in the light, then it doesn’t have the LumiNova technology and is, therefore, a fake.

The Date Complication
Almost all TAG Heuer models have a date complication, but only some have a day-date complication. Namely, the Calibre 5 and Calibre 16 models in the TAG Heuer Carrera collection will have both the day and the date displays. It pays to make sure that you know exactly what comes with an original version of the model you’re eyeing because this can expose a watch for a counterfeit if you find a model that supposedly has more displays than it’s supposed to.

Of course, in addition to that, it pays to make sure that the numbers and letters are perfectly centered in their display windows. A poorly-made counterfeit might have crooked numbers or ones that aren’t placed properly.

The Subdials
On watches like the TAG Heuer Carrera or the Formula 1, which are renowned for their impeccably precise chronograph function, it is especially important to test out the subdials to make sure that they are operational. First of all, each subdial must have a different set of numbers that it uses to measure time, as each one has a different purpose. Secondly, each chronograph subdial must have a pusher that corresponds to it, so play around with the pushers above and below the crown of the watch to make sure that both the subdials and the pushers are all functional.

The Case
The Bezel
TAG Heuer was one of the first watchmakers to outfit their timepieces with a rotating tachymeter bezel so that drivers who use TAG Heuer watches may time themselves and gauge how far they’ve gone just by glancing at their watch. As such, the rotating bezel on a real TAG Heuer watch should be impeccably designed. Test this out by rotating it on the watch you’re looking it: an authentic watch should rotate easily and should be accompanied by the correct number of clicks. A forged TAG Heuer’s bezel might not turn as easily or click correctly.

The Crown
The same test should be conducted on the crown. Authentic TAG Heuer watches have a remarkable winding mechanism that makes it nearly effortless to wind the watch: the movement is so smooth and easy that some say it hardly even feels like you’re winding the watch at all! On a counterfeit watch, naturally, you would feel the shifting of the watch’s movement inside and experience some resistance. Depending on how difficult it is to wind the watch, it might even be indicative of a damaged or at least cheaply-made watch movement.

In addition to the functional aspect of the crown, it is also imperative to examine the aesthetic aspect of it. The TAG Heuer logo on the crown should be embossed into the steel. It should not be a separate piece of metal pressed into the steel and certainly not glued onto the steel like it would be on a counterfeit.

The Caseback
Unlike Rolex, TAG Heuer’s casebacks are not uniform, so their design differs based on the model you’re looking at. One thing that they all have in common, however, is that somewhere on the caseback you will find engraved the following: the watch’s model number, its unique serial number, and its water resistance. All TAG Heuer watches are water resistant to at least 100 meters, so a watch that says it’s resistant to less than 100m (barring the brand’s authentic smartwatches, of course) is not an authentic TAG Heuer.

On a metal caseback, the model number, serial number, and water resistance will also be accompanied by a high-quality laser engraving of the TAG Heuer logo. On a crystal caseback, the watch’s information will be engraved on the rim around the sides of the crystal.

When checking a watch’s authenticity, it is also helpful to double check the model and serial numbers on the watch. This chart will allow you to cross-reference the model number on the watch you’re looking at with the official model number codes that the brand uses so that you can authenticate your watch. You could also call on your local TAG Heuer retailer to look up the watch’s serial number for you.

The Bracelet
TAG Heuer’s bracelets, like the rest of the watch, are impeccably made. As such, you can expect them to be expertly crafted, with high-quality parts. Counterfeiters often won’t take the time to make this part of the watch accurate to the brand’s specifications, so pay attention to this, as well. Every single part of each link should be made with separate, high-quality pieces of metal.

This is especially important to remember when it comes to the TAG Heuer Link collection. These watches are fitted with unique “S-shaped” bracelets that are made with separate pieces of metal made to fit together perfectly. Instead of using separate pieces of metal, forgers will often just etch a line in the middle of each link to make it look like they’re separate, but they really aren’t. This is a significant clue to a counterfeit watch, so examine the bracelet carefully if you’re thinking about purchasing a watch that may look like a TAG Heuer Link.

The Papers
Though a box and papers of certification usually mean that a watch is authentic, even these can be forged or faked. One way to tell whether a TAG Heuer watch’s certification is real is to look for the embossed holographic seal on the document. It should also carry the unique serial number that matches the one engraved on the watch’s caseback. This serial number should also be able to be cross-referenced with TAG Heuer’s records to authenticate the watch.

If you are still uncertain about the authenticity of your watch, we recommend that you take it to a professional watchmaker who can open the caseback and, by examining the watch’s movement, should be able to verify the authenticity of the timepiece. And if you have any other questions, TrueFacet’s support team is here to help! Find their contact information here.

Some watches are renowned for their water resistance: the Rolex Submariner, for example, is water resistant to 984 feet (300 meters), making it great for a deep dive underwater. However, when used incorrectly, even a watch like the Submariner can let in water and suffer water damage, because, in truth, no watch is truly waterproof. If you suspect that your watch has suffered from water damage, then this post is for you. We’ve answered your questions about what to do when you get water in your watch.

What does water damage look like on a watch?
The biggest clue to the existence of water inside a watch’s case is condensation. If the crystal on the watch’s face has droplets of water or dew on the inside, then the watch has lost its water resistance and is retaining some water inside the case, and likely, inside the movement. This can be a problem since the water can make the metal elements inside the watch get rusty. If the water is saltwater or has other kinds of particles in it (algae, soap, etc.), that could prove to be even worse, as the insides of watches are very sensitive, and these other particles can corrode the metal and irreparably damage the watch.

More clues to water damage could be broken lumes or malfunctioning hands. If lumes on the hands, markers, or other parts of the dial have stopped glowing in the dark inexplicably, then that might be indicative of water seeping into these features and destroying them. Malfunctioning hands that stutter or stop entirely are symptomatic of a broken movement, which could have been corroded or misplaced by water inside the watch.

I thought my watch was waterproof. What happened?
Like we said, no watch is ever truly waterproof, which is why they’re actually marketed as water-resistant. Water-resistant watches, no matter how resistant they are to water and pressure, can lose their resistance over time because these watches tend to depend on an O-ring, which is a gasket that goes around the crown of the watch and acts as a seal against water. Because the O-ring is often made of rubber or silicon, it starts drying out as soon as it leaves the factory, and when it does, it shrinks and hardens up, leaving the watch susceptible to water damage. This can take months or even years, but it does happen.

The watch’s water resistance could also have been compromised by misuse. If you have a diving watch with a rotating bezel and two pushers in addition to the crown, for example, your watch has several openings through which water can enter the case. You need to make sure that the crown and pushers are properly screwed in tight and that the rotating bezel is set before you enter or go near water. If the bezel is rotated underwater or the crown or pushers are not properly pushed in, water will enter the watch.

So my watch has water damage…what do I do now?
You have two options here: either leave the watch out to dry or bring it to a watchmaker to have it repaired.

If you know that the water has not been in the watch for very long, like, say, a day or two, and that there isn’t much of it inside the watch, then you should be fine if you left the timepiece out to dry. One way to do so is to place the watch caseback side down on a radiator, a lamp, or in a sunny spot on a window sill. This will draw the moisture away from the movement and heat the watch up a little bit so that the water dries faster. Be careful with this method, though, because the watch could suffer heat damage if left in the heat to dry for too long or if the surface it’s on gets too hot. Keep a careful eye on the watch.

Another way to let the piece dry is to carefully submerge it in a desiccant, which is a substance that will wick away the moisture and absorb it. Dry, uncooked rice is a popular option—in fact, people who have submerged their smartphones in water tend to leave their devices in rice to dry out. Another is to use clean cat litter: the white, pure silica gel kind works better, but the kind with gray clay in it is acceptable, too.

Whether you leave the watch in the heat to dry or submerge it in a desiccant, be sure to leave it flat and caseback-side down so that it faces up at you. This way, gravity will have a hand in getting the moisture out of the watch, too.

If the damage is extensive, a trip to a reputable watchmaker will be necessary. In general, no matter the level of water damage of the watch, we highly recommend bringing the timepiece to a watchmaker for repair as soon as possible.

In severe cases especially, the watch should be brought to a watchmaker (not a jeweler) so that they may take it apart safely and dry each individual piece out of the over 100 pieces that go into the structure of a watch. They will then put each piece in a cleaning machine to ensure that any residue will be cleaned off, and then they will repair or replace the pieces that have suffered water damage.

How can I prevent my watches from suffering from water damage in the future?
Preventative measures can definitely be taken to avoid water damage in the future! First of all, pay attention to the water resistance that the manufacturer recommends for your specific watch model. Every model is different, and, on top of that, the water resistance levels can be a little misleading, since the measurements watchmakers use only take pressure into account, not necessarily water depth. We’ve put together this graph to help you figure out how water resistant your timepiece actually is:

In addition to following this guide for how much pressure your watch can take, you should also take it in to a watchmaker for water resistance testing. New models should go in every year and should not be allowed to go more than 2 full years without resistance testing. Vintage models tend to warp and get more brittle over time and should be taken in at least once a year for testing. The watchmaker conducting these tests can then replace or repair any piece of the watch’s construction that may compromise its water resistance.

Finally, of course, it’s paramount that you read over the watch’s manual and make sure to make proper use of all its complicated features before you bring the timepiece into a body of water.

We round up the five best waterproof and diving watches by Rolex, Omega, Panerai and more that have broken diving records and can endure deep sea dives—or a few laps in the lane pool.

Rolex Submariner

From its sporty look to its impressive functionality, the Rolex Submariner is the quintessential diving watch.

Naturally, the Submariner has all the trappings of a traditional diving watch: a screw-down, triple lock crown for added waterproofness, a unidirectional bezel, and scratch-resistant sapphire crystal. And, while the average diver doesn’t venture below 130 feet and the world record for deepest dive was 1,000 feet, the Submariner is waterproof up to 1,000 feet (300 meters).

However, impressive durability aside, what truly distinguishes a Submariner is its sharp design that elevates it well above other competing diving watches.

Rolex Sea-Dweller

The Sea-Dweller was not designed with the hobbyist in mind; it was developed to withstand deep, deep (think submarine-level) ocean depths for prolonged periods of time. Capable of diving down to 4,000 feet (1,220 meters), the Rolex Sea-Dweller is outfitted with a proprietary Helium Escape Valve (HEV) that offsets the internal and external pressure created by these super deep water depths.

At first blush, the Sea-Dweller looks very similar to the Rolex Submariner, except for one key difference: the date window. The Rolex Submariner’s date window includes a magnifying Cyclops lens; the Sea-Dweller’s does not.

Omega Seamaster

Well before the Omega Seamaster debuted in 1948, Omega was a respected diving watch manufacturer and was largely considered the leader of this growing competitive field. But the Seamaster could be considered the Swiss brand’s masterpiece. (Read more about the history of the Omega Seamaster here.) The Seamaster featured an O-ring gasket, which vastly improved its water resistance and made it impervious to the water’s temperature changes at lower depths. This breakthrough technology totally outpaced the competition and cemented Omega’s dominance in diving watch manufacturing.

Today, the Seamaster is dubbed the “James Bond watch” after it usurped the title from the Rolex Submariner in 1995. The Omega Seamaster also ranks as Omega’s best-seller and remains the oldest model in Omega’s current collection.

Breitling Superocean

Breitling is best known for their precision aviation and pilot watches, but the Breitling Superocean, one of the brand’s most popular models, was the its first foray into the world of diving watches. When it debuted in 1957, the Superocean put Breitling’s competitors on edge by reaching depths of 656 feet (200 meters), twice as deep as its nearest contemporary the Rolex Submariner. (For more on how the Breitling Superocean was designed and developed, read our blog post here.)

The Superocean is noted for its large Arabic numerals and oversized hands that make it very easy for divers to read underwater.

Panerai Luminor Marina

Aesthetically speaking, the Panerai Luminor Marina does not look like a traditional diving watch. But, surprisingly enough, the Luminor Marina is modeled after the watch Panerai first developed for the Italian military divers in 1936. The original Panerai Luminor and its modern descendant were designed for divers who swim at shallow depths but for long periods of time, which is why it does not have the signature diving watch rotating bezel. However, deep divers might be attracted to this watch, which is actually waterproof to 984 feet (300 meters), because of its incredibly luminous and easy-to-read face that will stand out in the dark and deep underwater.

We rounded up ten of our favorite celebrities wearing Le Vian jewels on the red carpet. Check out the A-listers who have finished their evening look with the perfect complementary piece of Le Vian jewelry.

Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue. No matter how old this time-honored rhyme is, it proves its wedding-planning influence to even the most contemporary brides.

While traditional rituals and styles are still proving desirable for today’s brides, there are always those that want to bend tradition, especially with their bridal jewelry. Taking a creative twist and finding the perfect style for your wedding day jewelry can feel like a challenge, but we promise it’s easier than you think.

We rounded up some cool earring, necklace and bracelets styles to perfect your modern bridal look!

Commemorate your graduate’s important milestone with a watch or jewelry gift. We picked our 50 favorite designer (but still budget-friendly) gifts by Tiffany & Co., TAG Heuer, Omega, and more to surprise your Class of 2018 grad!

Unlike white diamonds that are valued for the absence of color, fancy color diamonds are prized for the saturation of color and rich shades of blue, yellow and pink are exceedingly rare in nature. Here we look at the world’s premier fancy colored diamonds, distinguished for their remarkable color, clarity and impressive size and their jaw-dropping price tags.

The Pink Star

The Pink Star, previously known as the Steinmetz Pink, is the largest diamond to have been graded a Fancy Vivid Pink. Its color and size rank it among the top three in its pink diamond class. After five minutes of bidding at a 2017 Sotheby’s auction in Hong Kong, the oval-shaped 59.6-carat pink diamond broke the record for the highest price ever paid for a jewel: a whopping $71 million USD.

The Spirit of de Grisogono

When the Spirit of de Grisogono rough diamond was first discovered in Africa, it weighed an astounding 587 carats, an enormous black diamond. The rough diamond was cut down to 312.24 carats by Swiss jeweler, De Grisogono. Even after being cut and faceted, the Spirit of de Grisogono still holds the title as the largest black diamond in the world and is the world’s fifth largest diamond overall. The Spirit of de Grisogono is currently set in a white gold ring, surrounded by 702 white diamonds that total 36.69 carats. It’s value has not been disclosed.

The Hope Diamond

Believed to have been discovered in India in the 1600s, the Hope Diamond was bought by King Louis XIV in 1668. After hundreds of years of grinding, cutting and polishing, the stone weighs 54.52 carats, and is classified as a Fancy Dark Grayish-Blue diamond. (For more on the cursed history of the Hope Diamond, read our post on the topic here.) The third most expensive colored diamond in the world, the Hope Diamond is valued at an incredible $250 million and sits amid high security at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History.

The Ocean Dream

Mined from central Africa, the Ocean Dream diamond is a fancy deep blue-green, triangular brilliant (or trillion-cut) diamond. It is the largest naturally colored fancy deep blue-green diamond in the world. Thus in spite of its relatively small size (5.51 carats) compared to other famous diamonds, the Ocean Dream earns the distinction of being one of the rarest diamonds in the world.

The Oppenheimer Blue

The Oppenheimer Blue, at 14.62 carats, is the largest Vivid Blue diamond ever to appear at auction. This diamond, named after its previous owner, Sir Phillip Oppenheimer, stunned auction-goers, when it sold for an incredible $57 million USD in 2016. The buyer remains anonymous. Following the auction, the Oppenheimer Blue held the title as the most expensive jewel every sold at auction, until it was unseated by the Pink Star Diamond in 2017.

The Incomparable Diamond

For being such an impressively named stone, The Incomparable Diamond has a humble origin story: this fancy colored diamond was found in 1984 by a little girl playing in a pile of rocks and rubble outside her uncle’s house in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The rubble, which had been dismissed as being too bulky to bother scanning for diamonds, hid the largest brown diamond in the world. The Incomparable Diamond was cut down from 890 to 407.5 carats to have fewer internal flaws and emphasize its fancy brownish-yellow color. The stone is valued around $20 million USD.

To learn about more rare and expensive gemstones, read our post The World’s 10 Rarest and Most Expensive Gemstones here.