Jewel once set in French crowns to go on auction
GENEVA: A large pink diamond once set in the crowns of numerous French kings and emperors will go under the hammer in Geneva next month, Christie’s auction house said.
Le Grand Mazarin, a 19.07-carat light pink diamond, was a gift to Louis XIV in 1661 and was set in the crowns of almost all of the monarchs and emperors of France who followed, Christie’s said yesterday.
The diamond is “a timeless symbol of beauty, a French royal treasure adorning no fewer than seven kings and queens beginning with the Sun King Louis XIV”, Christie’s chairman for Europe and Asia Francois Curiel said in a statement.
“Above all, it is a witness to 350 years of European history. This stone belongs to a class of its own.”
The gem was named after Cardinal Mazarin, an Italian cardinal, diplomat and art collector who served as chief minister under Louis XIII and Louis XIV, and who bequeathed it and other diamonds to the Sun King in his will.
The pink stone, originally dug out of the ancient mines of Golconda in India, sparkled on the crowns of Louis XV and Louis XVI.
It also graced the crowns of Napoleon I, Napoleon III and Empress Eugenie, among others.
It has since passed through the hands of famous French jeweller Frederic Boucheron and later the Baron von Derwies.
Christie’s said it was currently part of a private collection.
The auction house said it hoped to
€
rake in between 5.1mil (RM25.3mil)
€
and 7.7mil (RM38.2mil) for the diamond. — AFP