The £82,000 Christmas bauble (From This is Hampshire)

Titchfield jeweller unveils his diamond Christmas decoration

12:22pm Friday 6th November 2009 in News

IT could be the most expensive Christmas bauble in the world.

Coated with precious gems and worth a cool £82,000, this one-of-a-kind tree decoration was created in a small Hampshire village jewellers.

Made of 18-carat white gold and plastered with more than one and half thousand stunning diamonds, it is surrounded by two incredible rings featuring 188 red rubies and took a whole year to design and make.

The bling bauble is due to be unveiled tomorrow night, but is currently under lock and key in Titchfield.

It is so valuable it is being kept in a steel-framed case surrounded by 6mm thick laminated glass. The box is surrounded by a hi-tech microwave bubble, which sounds if it is broken, and even has an extra internal alarm which fills the shop with smoke if it goes off.

The bauble was dreamt up by Mark Hussey, 38, the owner Hallmark Jewellers, the 30-year-old family business based in South Street.

He said: “It was never about the value of the bauble, we just wanted to do something special for Christmas.

“It was more about making something unique, but as we researched other amazing baubles we discovered the most expensive one was £26,874.

“We thought, why not see if we can beat it – but we were bowled over when it was valued at £82,000.

“I literally started working on it the day after Boxing Day, it really has been a year in the making.

“It’s not really about whether we can sell it or not, we want it for a centrepiece for the shop. It would be absolutely fantastic if we could find the right person to buy it.

“But if I’m honest, if it’s still here on Christmas Eve I’d love to put it on our Christmas tree.”

The bauble features a snowflake-cut pattern among a hallmarked 18-carat white gold sphere hand set with 1,578 diamonds.

It comes in a bespoke handmade wooden box complete with a stand and has been independently valued by the National Association of Goldsmiths.

The bauble was inspired by a snowflake Mark drew on December 27, 2008, which was then hand engraved onto a silver dome in his village workshop. It was then taken to Hatton Garden in London’s Jewellery Quarter, where two 18-carat white gold halves were cast.

After they were filed down back in Titchfield they were joined by laser, a mould made and an 18-carat white gold version created.

Tiny pilot holes were drilled out of it then delicately raised for the diamonds until the decoration was covered in gems.

The orbiting rings were made from a length of 18- carat fat gold wire shaped into a round bangle and peppered with 188 rubies.

A spokesman for Guinness World Records said: “We would certainly like to hear from the owners so we can investigate this more.”