For its Magnificent and Noble Jewels sale planned for May 17, 2011, Sotheby’s has selected to offer a diamond and emerald tiara, considered the most valuable of such items to appear in an auction in over 30 years. The sale is slated in Geneva.

The tiara carries an estimate price of $5-10 million. The Tiara is made with 11 exceptionally rare Colombian emerald pear-shaped drops weighing over 500 carats in total, and believed to have been in the personal collection of Empress Eugénie.

It is also believed to be commissioned by Guido Count von Henckel, First Prince von Donnersmarck for his second wife Princess Katharina (1862-1929), from renowned jewelers Chaumet,. The jewellery collection of the Donnersmarcks was known to be on a par with, or even to have exceeded, those of many of the crowned heads of Europe.