A centuries-old diamond passed down through generations of European royalty fetched nine million Swiss francs (€7.6 million) at auction in Geneva.
We’ve sold much larger diamonds but it has this wonderful romantic history, an unparalleled royal history – it has never been in non-royal hands
The 35-carat Beau Sancy diamond was worn by Marie de Medici, Queen consort of French King Henry IV, at her coronation in 1610.
Five bidders, spanning three continents, competed for the historic jewel at a Sotheby’s auction, where there was little evidence of the current global financial woes.
An anonymous telephone bidder purchased the jewel, put on the market by the House of Prussia and described by Sotheby’s as one of the “most fascinating and romantic” gems ever to come to auction.
The buyer paid 9,042,500 Swiss francs (€7,626,809) including the buyer’s premium for the pear-shaped, double rose-cut diamond – more than double the €1.5 million to €3.1 million estimate.
“You are buying a historic work of art − you are not buying a diamond,” said Philipp Herzog von Wuerttenberg, chairman of Sotheby’s Europe, following the sale.
“I fell in love with it when I saw it. It’s the cut, it’s the history,” he said.
The Beau Sancy attracted bids from North America, Europe and Asia, he said, refusing to give further details about the buyer.
The diamond’s royal connections date back to 1604 when it was bought for Henri IV of France at the insistence of his wife, Marie de Medici, who wore it atop her crown at her coronation.
Later that century, it was acquired by the Dutch and used to seal the wedding of Willem II of Orange-Nassau to Mary Stuart, daughter of Charles I of England. Ms Stuart pawned the rose-cut gem to finance her brother Charles II’s fight for the throne.
In 1702, the first king of Prussia gave it pride of place in the new royal crown and it has passed through generations of the House of Prussia until today.
“We’ve sold much larger diamonds but it has this wonderful romantic history, an unparalleled royal history – it has never been in non-royal hands,” said David Bennett, co-chairman of Sotheby’s Switzerland, ahead of the sale.
The Beau Sancy went under the hammer at Geneva’s Beau Rivage hotel as part of Sotheby’s Magnificent Jewels and Noble Jewels sale.
A second historic diamond, a 7.3-carat “fancy yellow” formerly belonging to Charles Edward Stuart, one-time pretender to the thrones of Great Britain and Ireland, sold to a telephone bidder for 902,500 francs (€761,205) including the buyers’ premium.
More commonly known as “Bonnie Prince Charlie”, his attempts to make the Stuarts regain the crown failed and following the Battle of Culloden in 1745, he went into exile in France and Italy, where he is thought to have offered the gem to the Corsini family in gratitude for their support.
A pearl and diamond tiara created in 1920 by French jeweller Chaumet, for the marriage of Prince Alexandre Murat to Yvonne Gillois meanwhile sold to a caller for 3.6 million francs (€2.9 million), well over its 1.4 million franc estimate.
The headpiece boasts one of the largest natural pearls ever recorded, according to Sotheby’s.
On Monday, a collection of 70 jewels belonging to billionaire philanthropist Lily Safra was sold by auctioneer Christie’s in Geneva, raising €29.8 million for charity.
Brazil-born Safra, 77, was married to the Jewish-Lebanese banker Edmond Safra, who died in a blaze at his Monte-Carlo penthouse in 1999.
The Elton John AIDS foundation, a water treatment programme in Brazil and a children’s hospital in Israel, are among 32 charitable institutes to benefit from the sale of the gems, many of them created specially for Safra by renowned Paris jeweller JAR.
The royal trail
▶ Acquired by Nicolas de Harlay, Lord of Sancy (1546-1629), in Constantinople in the mid- to late 1500s, the Beau Sancy is most likely to have originated from the mines in south-central India, near the city of Golconda, the source of history’s best-known diamonds, including the Hope, the Koh-i-Noor and the Regent.
▶ In 1604, the Beau Sancy was bought by Henri IV and gifted to his wife, Marie de Medici. The Queen of France had long desired the stone, particularly after learning that de Sancy had sold a larger stone − today known as the “Sancy” – to King James I of England.
▶ Following Henri IV’s assassination by Ravaillac, the queen was exiled in disgrace and escaped to The Netherlands. She was heavily in debt and sold her possessions, including the Beau Sancy which was acquired by Prince Frederick Hendrick of Orange-Nassau (1584-1647) for 80,000 florins − the most important expenditure in the state’s budget in 1641.
▶ In the same year, in an attempt to reinforce the alliances of the United Provinces of Holland with the great European powers, the diamond was used to seal the arrangement of the wedding of Frederick Hendrick’s son, Willem, later Willem II of Orange-Nassau (1631-1660), to Mary Stuart, daughter of Charles I of England and Henriette-Marie of France, and granddaughter of Marie de Medici.
▶ After her husband’s death, Mary Stuart embarked for England with her jewels to support her brother Charles II in his fight for the throne. In 1662, the Beau Sancy was pawned to settle her debts and it was only in 1677, on the occasion of the wedding of Willem III of Orange-Nassau (1650-1702) to Mary II Stuart, daughter of the King of England James II, that the diamond re-entered the Treasure of the House of Orange-Nassau.
▶ In 1689, the couple ascended the throne of England and the Beau Sancy joined the collection of the Queen of England. However, as the monarchs were childless at their death, the diamond went back to the House of Orange-Nassau.
▶ In 1702, following the settlement of a dispute between the heirs to the House of Orange, Friedrich I, who had just been crowned the first King of Prussia, gave up the jewels of his legacy to obtain the Beau Sancy.
▶ The symbolic value and the prestige of the celebrated gem were such that the King made it the principal ornament of the new royal crown of Prussia and associated it with the first order of Prussia.