Editor’s Note
This article highlights the public fascination with celebrity fashion and luxury goods, as seen in the recent online discussion sparked by actress Huang Yangdiantian’s earrings. While detailing the specifications of the high-end jewelry, it also touches on the exclusivity and limited availability that often accompany such items.
Recently, actress Huang Yangdiantian posted a set of photos on social media, where a pair of green earrings in one picture caught the attention of netizens.
According to TARGET magazine, her earrings are from the luxury brand GRAFF’s classic Butterfly collection, featuring a marquise shape with pear-shaped emeralds and round diamonds. The total diamond weight is 7.55 carats, and the total emerald weight is 12.52 carats.
However, the same earrings are currently not available for sale on GRAFF’s official website, its Tmall Luxury flagship store, or its WeChat mini-program. Furthermore, customer service at GRAFF’s Tmall flagship store indicated that emeralds generally require customization, taking approximately 12 to 17 weeks, as the brand crafts jewelry based on customers’ specific requests. On GRAFF’s official website, emerald pendants, rings, earrings, and necklaces for sale do not list specific prices, only marked with “Price available upon request.”
On Instagram, someone shared the same jewelry worn by Huang Yangdiantian, stating that the retail price for this pair of emerald and diamond earrings is over 2.3 million RMB.
On some second-hand trading platforms, sellers are also offering the same earrings, describing them in the product details as “99% new” with a retail price of over 2.3 million RMB.
Subsequently, Huang Yangdiantian’s father responded to the matter online, stating that the earrings were not authentic and were open to appraisal by official institutions.
This incident has brought the brand GRAFF into the spotlight for many, sparking curiosity about why a pair of earrings could be so expensive.
GRAFF is a high-end jewelry brand from London, UK, founded in 1960 by Laurence Graff OBE (Officer of the Order of the British Empire).
The name GRAFF has long been synonymous with high-quality diamonds and gemstones, though its journey to success was not without challenges.
Laurence Graff’s connection to jewelry design began in his youth. He once said that at the age of 15, he first went to work at Schneider’s factory in London’s famous jewelry district, Hatton Garden, starting as an apprentice while also attending classes at the Central School of Arts and Crafts. He was deeply fascinated by diamonds, often studying the clarity and cutting methods of the sparkling stones.
However, after three months as an apprentice, his employer did not think highly of him, believing Graff would never achieve greatness or make a significant impact in the industry. Undeterred, Graff eventually founded his first company at the age of 18, beginning collaborations with experienced jewelers. Initially, he designed all-diamond rings, later gradually incorporating emeralds, rubies, and sapphires.
Graff founded GRAFF Diamonds in 1960 and opened his first retail store in London two years later. He then took his designs worldwide to explore business opportunities and hold exhibitions. Today, GRAFF has over 70 jewelry stores globally.
With unique and innovative design concepts and exceptionally high standards for gemstones, GRAFF possesses many legendary diamonds, including some weighing over a hundred carats, such as the 302.37-carat “The Graff Lesedi La Rona.” GRAFF has become the “pinnacle brand” at the top of the jewelry industry pyramid.
As a top-tier jewelry brand, royalty, nobility, business magnates, and celebrities have worn GRAFF jewelry, including the Brunei Royal Family and Queen Elizabeth II of the UK.
Many celebrities also choose GRAFF jewelry for various events. Yao Chen, Tang Yan, Yu Feihong, Huang Xiaoming, and others have worn GRAFF pieces at film festivals, annual TV drama galas, and Weibo Movie Nights.
In television dramas, to highlight a character’s status, GRAFF jewelry is sometimes used. In the series “A Pretty Good Life,” the female lead played by Sun Li, a million-RMB-annual-salary insurance industry manager, exudes luxury from her first appearance, wearing a GRAFF bracelet.
How much is GRAFF, so beloved by various elites, worth? This depends on the specific material quality of each piece of jewelry. Customer service at the Tmall flagship store stated that GRAFF jewelry is not sold by weight. Particularly for diamonds, pricing is related to their uniqueness (color, clarity, cut, fluorescence, etc.), and is also influenced by factors such as market currency exchange rate fluctuations. Therefore, the price of each piece of jewelry varies, and even with similar carat weights, prices can differ significantly.
For example, GRAFF’s Butterfly Illusion Duet diamond necklace has diamonds weighing approximately 0.53 carats and is priced at 56,000 RMB. Another Butterfly Illusion diamond necklace has diamonds weighing about 0.55 carats. In terms of diamond weight, the latter is only 0.02 carats more than the former, but its price is considerably higher, selling for 69,000 RMB.
In comparison, Huang Yangdiantian’s earrings, also from the GRAFF brand, are much more expensive. This is because the price of a pair of earrings is not only related to the brand but also to the materials.
Regarding these earrings, some netizens pointed out that even if they were not from GRAFF, the emerald material itself is very valuable.
On GRAFF’s official website, it’s evident that its emerald jewelry commands high prices. According to the website, among the 26 pieces in GRAFF’s Unique Solitaires high jewelry collection, 24 are marked “Price available upon request.” The two that do list prices are both emerald pieces: one is a cabochon emerald and white diamond ring with a 4.88-carat cabochon oval emerald, priced at 5.5 million RMB; the other is an emerald-cut emerald and diamond ring with a 1.71-carat emerald-cut Colombian emerald, priced at 875,000 RMB.
Emerald, with the chemical formula Be₃Al₂(SiO₃)₆, is a beryllium aluminum silicate and the most precious variety in the beryl family, often called the “King of Green Gems.”
The name “emerald” (祖母绿, Zǔmǔlǜ in Chinese) is not arbitrary. Emerald is an imported gemstone, and its Chinese name is a transliteration from the Arabic “zmerud” and Persian “zumurrud.” Therefore, besides “祖母绿,” it is sometimes translated as “助木剌” (Zhùmùlà).
Historical texts confirm its value. For instance, writings from the late Yuan and early Ming dynasties describe different grades of green stones, with “助木剌” referring to bright, vivid emeralds. Later works directly used the term “祖母绿.”
The high value of emeralds is evident from auction results and luxury brand prices. According to the renowned international auction house Christie’s, at the 2023 Hong Kong Magnificent Jewels and Jadeite Auction, a 17.05-carat rectangular Colombian natural emerald ring sold for HKD 19,735,000 (approximately RMB 18,207,905), making the price per carat about RMB 1,067,921.
The French luxury brand Van Cleef & Arpels has an 18K gold emerald mini necklace priced at 20,300 RMB. Customer service at its Tmall official flagship store indicated that the round emerald in the center of this necklace is only 0.04 carats.
First, the formation process of emeralds is difficult. Emerald deposits result from acidic granite or granitic pegmatite intruding ultrabasic metamorphic rocks. Forming emeralds requires at least three conditions: first, magma rich in various minerals; second, surrounding rocks containing chromophores like chromium or vanadium, such as mica schist or talc schist; and finally, faults and fissures for the magma to flow into the rocks and undergo specific reactions.
This process is not instantaneous; it requires tens of millions or even billions of years. The oldest known deposit is the Gravelotte deposit in South Africa, formed during the Archean Eon (about 4 to 2.5 billion years ago). The youngest is the Kaltharo deposit in Pakistan, formed during the Cenozoic Era (about 65 million years ago).
Currently, emerald deposits are distributed across 78 mining areas in 28 countries worldwide, with major producing countries including Colombia, Brazil, Zambia, and Russia.
Besides the long formation time, the difficulty of mining and processing also contributes to the high value of emeralds. Some emerald deposits are located in tropical rainforests, making mining operations extremely challenging.
Generally, large-carat emeralds are rare. Those over 2 carats are considered high-value, and emeralds over 5 carats are already treasures. During processing, minimizing damage is crucial, requiring different cutting and processing methods based on the emerald’s specific characteristics, involving considerable expertise.
Additionally, origin is a significant factor affecting emerald price. Different origins mean different rocks, leading to variations in the chemical properties, inclusions, spectroscopic features, and composition of the emeralds produced. Emeralds from Colombia are often considered to be of higher quality. On GRAFF’s official website, some pieces using Colombian emeralds explicitly state “Colombian emerald” in the product name and description.
Given all this, it’s not difficult to understand why emeralds are so precious, and why a pair of earrings alone propelled a “post-05s” young actress and her family onto the trending charts.