The Exciting Conclusion to the Saga of the World's Largest Emerald

Well, this story has taken more turns than a bad soap opera. For starters rumors and speculations had been swirling about whether or not Teodora was even worth of the title of Emerald, let alone “largest faceted emerald in the world”. Although Reaney dismissed detractors claiming that they were just jealous that they didn’t buy the stone first. Right, I’m sure that’s it. Reports even started surfacing that the stone had been put on ebay for $10,000 and failed to sell. If you look at the photo closely, the shirt that the person holding the stone is wearing matches the shirt from the Western Star Auction photo further down this page. It all seemed very fishy. 

But all of that paled in comparison with what happened on Friday, the night before the auction. Regan Reaney, owner and gem promoter extraordinaire, was arrested by Kelowna RCMP. Why you might ask? Well it turns out that Reaney was wanted for multiple counts of fraud in Ontario. That’s right, the man whose word we are supposed to take regarding the Emerald’s worth is wanted for lying to people. However, if I’m honest, red flags were flying all over the place from the very first time that I read about the stone being auctioned off in an unheard of town in Canada. Because that’s the first place I think of when it comes to auctioning off million dollar stones, not Christie’s, not Bonham’s, not Sotheby’s, I think of Western Star Auctions in Kelowna, Canada. Yep, that makes complete sense, especially when you look at the caliber of stock that passes through including such wonders as a used toaster oven. I kid you not. 

Photo : Western Star Auctions

So it turns out that things weren’t looking so good for the friendly folks at Western Star Auctions. You see they were hoping that Teodora would be their big break. Owner Mike Odenbach had his sights on being then next big thing on the reality show circuit. So when the emerald came along, he ran with it, going so far as to say that “it’s just a thing of beauty. It’s spectacular. It’s nothing short of spectacular… The sky’s the limit” for how high the price could go. He believed that Teodora really was “God’s gift”. “We’re being given an opportunity to expose ourselves internationally as an auction company that can handle items like this.”

And ‘handle’ it they did, going ahead with the ill-fated sale which did not receive a single bid. However Odenbach wasn’t going down without a fight claiming that “there was definitely interest in [the stone]”, and that perhaps “what’s gone on recently, it was a bit much for people.” Ya think?

So for now, Teodora is still available, Reaney is still in jail, Odenbach is still quietly mired in the futile hope for his very own reality show, and the rest of the world is still wondering what the heck is going on here.