With an incredibly rich history, this beautiful 34.98-carat diamond, known as the Beau Sancy, was recently sold at Sotheby’s Magnificent Jewels and Noble Jewels sale in Geneva, for an impressive $9.7 million. It measures 1.9 cm in width, 1.1 cm in depth, and 2.3 cm in height, but its dimensions are not the most important thing about this remarkable gem. As Philipp Herzog von Wuerttenberg, the chairman of Sotheby Europe said, the buyer did not get a diamond, but a historic work of art.
The Beau Sancy was put on the market by the House of Prussia, and it now belongs to an anonymous bidder who bought the gem via telephone. This rare stone passed from one royal hand to another during its long existence, and it travelled across Europe from Prussia, and France, to England and the Netherlands.
Its name comes from Nicolas Harley de Sancy, a diamond collector who bough it sometime during the 16th century when he travelled to Constantinople (today’s Istanbul). It is said to have originated from the same place as the famous Koh-I-Noor and Regent diamonds, which is the city of Golconda, India.
The diamond was also mounted on Marie de Medici’s crown in 1610, just one day before her husband’s (King Henry IV of France) assassination. Its intricate history covers two World Wars and includes many different royal names, so it is obvious that its staggering price reflects more than the number of carats it boasts.
