The Hutton-Mdivani jadeite necklace is a strand of twenty-seven graduated jadeite beads that realised US$27.44 million at Sotheby's Hong Kong on 7 April 2014, establishing it as the most expensive jadeite jewel ever sold at auction and, at the time of sale, the highest price achieved at auction for any jadeite object. The result set a per-bead record and confirmed jadeite's position as the single most valuable coloured gemstone category by total hammer price. The necklace is named for its two most celebrated owners: American heiress Barbara Hutton, who received it as a wedding gift in 1933, and Princess Nina Mdivani, into whose possession it passed through family inheritance. Strung by Cartier in the 1930s with a ruby-and-diamond clasp, the piece represents the convergence of exceptional gemological material, historic provenance, and the sustained appetite of Chinese and Southeast Asian collectors for top-quality imperial jadeite.

Gemological Character

The twenty-seven beads range from approximately 15.4 mm to 19.2 mm in diameter, graduating in size from the clasp toward the centre — a configuration that maximises the visual impact of the finest, largest bead at the necklace's focal point. The colour is described in the trade as fei cui of imperial green: a saturated, even, slightly bluish-green hue with high transparency and a vitreous to waxy surface lustre. In gemmological terms, jadeite of this calibre exhibits a chromium-driven green colouration, with Cr³⁺ absorption bands visible in the visible spectrum, and a refractive index in the range of approximately 1.654–1.667 (spot reading near 1.66). The beads are natural, untreated jadeite — designated Type A in the trade classification system — meaning they have received no polymer impregnation, bleaching, or artificial dyeing. Sotheby's engaged independent gemmological laboratory certification confirming the natural, untreated status of the material, a prerequisite for any serious transaction at this price level.

What distinguishes the Hutton-Mdivani beads from lesser imperial-green jadeite is not colour alone but the combination of colour, translucency, size, and uniformity across all twenty-seven stones. Matching jadeite beads of this diameter to a consistent hue and diaphaneity is extraordinarily difficult; the geological conditions that produce imperial-green jadeite — high-pressure, relatively low-temperature metamorphic environments, principally in the Hpakant and Tawmaw regions of northern Myanmar — yield material of this quality only rarely, and in quantities far too small to supply a full graduated strand. The assembly of such a necklace therefore represents decades of selective acquisition as much as it does a single geological event.

Provenance: Barbara Hutton

Barbara Hutton (1912–1979), heiress to the Woolworth retail fortune, received the necklace as a wedding gift from her father, Franklin Laws Hutton, on the occasion of her first marriage to Georgian prince Alexis Mdivani in June 1933. The gift was reportedly purchased through Cartier, who also supplied the clasp — a design set with rubies and diamonds consistent with the firm's high-jewellery vocabulary of the period. Hutton was among the most prominent jewellery collectors of the twentieth century, and her acquisitions — including the Pasha Diamond and numerous important natural pearls — are well documented in auction and estate records. The jadeite necklace was among the most significant pieces she owned, reflecting both the period's fascination with Chinese art and material culture and the particular prestige that imperial jadeite commanded among Western collectors of the interwar era.

Provenance: Princess Nina Mdivani

Following the dissolution of the Hutton–Mdivani marriage in 1935, the necklace passed within the Mdivani family to Princess Nina Mdivani (1909–1987), sister of Alexis. Nina Mdivani was herself a figure of considerable social prominence in European aristocratic and artistic circles. The necklace remained in her possession and subsequently in her estate for several decades, lending the piece a continuous, well-documented chain of ownership that is itself a significant contributor to auction value. Provenance of this clarity and social distinction is rare for any jewel; for a jadeite piece, where the market is acutely sensitive to authenticity and treatment status, an unbroken ownership history reaching back to the original Cartier stringing is particularly compelling to prospective buyers.

The Cartier Clasp and Period Setting

Cartier's involvement in the necklace's creation situates it within the broader context of the maison's engagement with Chinese and East Asian aesthetic traditions during the 1920s and 1930s. During this period, Cartier — under the influence of design director Charles Jacqueau and the collecting activities of Louis Cartier — incorporated jadeite, coral, onyx, and lacquer extensively into its jewellery vocabulary, producing pieces that synthesised Art Deco geometry with Chinese material culture. The ruby-and-diamond clasp on the Hutton-Mdivani necklace is consistent with this aesthetic: the saturated red of Burmese ruby provides a chromatic counterpoint to the imperial green of the beads, while the diamond setting supplies the white-metal brightness characteristic of Cartier's platinum-era work. The clasp is not merely a functional element but a signed component that materially contributes to the jewel's market value and historical identity.

The 2014 Sotheby's Sale

The necklace was offered at Sotheby's Hong Kong Magnificent Jewels and Jadeite sale on 7 April 2014, carrying a pre-sale estimate of HK$100–200 million (approximately US$13–26 million). Bidding exceeded the high estimate, with the hammer falling at a price that translated to US$27.44 million including buyer's premium. The result attracted significant international press coverage, both within the jewellery trade and in broader financial media, as an illustration of the sustained strength of the Hong Kong jewellery auction market and the particular premium commanded by top-quality imperial jadeite among Chinese collectors.

On a per-bead basis, the sale price implied a value of over US$1 million per bead — a figure that has been widely cited in the trade as a reference point for the upper boundary of jadeite bead valuation. The buyer was not publicly identified at the time of sale, which is consistent with standard practice for major Hong Kong auction transactions.

Market Significance and Investment Context

The Hutton-Mdivani sale is frequently cited in discussions of coloured gemstone investment for several reasons. First, it demonstrated that jadeite — a material whose primary collector base is concentrated in Greater China and Southeast Asia — could achieve prices competitive with, and in total terms exceeding, the finest Burmese rubies and Kashmir sapphires that dominate Western auction records. Second, the result underscored the premium attached to provenance, treatment-free status, and historical association in the jadeite market: technically superior material without comparable documentation would not achieve a comparable price. Third, the sale illustrated the importance of the Hong Kong auction platform as the primary price-discovery mechanism for top-quality jadeite, a role that reflects both the geographic concentration of demand and the logistical and regulatory advantages of Hong Kong as a trading centre for Chinese cultural property.

For collectors and investors approaching the jadeite market, the Hutton-Mdivani necklace functions as a ceiling reference rather than a median benchmark. The overwhelming majority of imperial-green jadeite transactions occur at prices several orders of magnitude below this level; the necklace's result reflects the simultaneous presence of exceptional gemological quality, irreplaceable provenance, period Cartier attribution, and a favourable auction environment. Nonetheless, the sale reinforced the principle that natural, untreated imperial jadeite of documented origin occupies a category of value that no synthetic or treated substitute can approach, and that the market for such material remains structurally robust among high-net-worth collectors in the Asia-Pacific region.

Further Reading

• GIA Gems & Gemology — coverage of the Hutton-Mdivani necklace and jadeite quality factors
• GIA: Jadeite Jade Quality Factors