05/31/2026
On May 26th, 2026, Christie's Hong Kong Magnificent Jewels Auction just sold the Imperial Ethereal Jadeite Necklace for $200,200,000 Hong Kong dollars or $25,548,143 mil in US, it became the highest-selling lot at any Asian auction this spring season
The necklace is strung from 61 perfectly matched imperial jadeite beads ranging from 8.8 to 13.7 millimetres in diameter, the necklace represents the pinnacle of what nature and craftsmanship can achieve together. Each bead carries the vivid, even green and glassy translucency that define imperial-grade jadeite — and matching beads of this caliber, in this quantity, is extraordinarily rare. Christie's billed the piece as the most valuable jadeite jewel it has ever offered, and the most significant to reach the market in over a decade.
Imperial jade refers to the rarest and highest-quality jadeite jade, prized for its vivid, almost transparent emerald-green color and luminous "inner glow". It is sourced primarily from Myanmar, in Chinese history, imperial jade was deeply revered, and jadeite even became the stone reserved exclusively for the royal court and Emperors. A Chinese proverb notes: "Gold has a price; jade is priceless." The stone is universally seen as a symbol of status, power, purity, health, and good luck. Sweet necklace!
