The 10 most iconic jewels through history

Kardashian's eye-catching cross, with its square-cut amethysts offset by 5.2-carat diamonds, was created in the 1920s by London jeweller Garrard.

The Atallah cross was frequently worn by Diana, Princess of Wales, and was recently acquired by Kim Kardashian (Credit: Sotheby's)

The Attallah cross 

The company was a firm favourite of the late Diana, Princess of Wales, and the firm most notably designed her engagement ring. Yet the bejewelled pendant never actually belonged to Diana: it was lent to her on several occasions by its namesake Naim Attallah, Diana's close friend and joint managing director of Asprey & Garrard at the time, who, according to his son, only ever allowed the princess to wear it. Bold and brilliant, the crucifix represents a shift in Diana's increasingly empowered style during the 1980s.

The Black Orlov Diamond was said to be "cursed" and to cause the deaths of whoever owned it (Credit: Getty Images)

The "cursed" black Orlov diamond

Black crystalline diamonds are remarkable in themselves, which is why the Black Orlov Diamond, a cushion-shaped, 67.49-carat stone with a distinct gun-metal hue and a bone-chilling accompanying legend, is perhaps the rarest of its kind. As the story goes, the original, rough 195-carat diamond was stolen from an idol of the Hindu god Brahma, located in a 19th-Century shrine in India. Cursed thereafter, the diamond is said to have caused the death of its thief, and the suicides of three of its owners: a Russian princess named Nadia Vygin-Orlov, one of her relatives, and JW Paris, the diamond dealer who imported it to the United States.

The Peregrina pearl was given by Philip II to his bride Queen Mary I - centuries later, actor Richard Burton bought it for Elizabeth Taylor (Credit: Alamy)

La Peregrina pearl