The Beau Sancy diamond. (Click on image to enlarge). UPDATE: IT SOLD FOR $9,699,618 US dollars
A 34.98 carat diamond worn in her crown by Marie de Medici at her coronation as Queen Consort of Henri IV in 1610 will be sold at Sotheby’s in Geneva on May 15. The Beau Sancy, a modified pear double rose cut diamond has passed down through the royal families of France, England, Prussia and the House of Orange. Acquired by Nicolas de Harlay, Lord of Sancy (1546-1629), in Constantinople in the mid to late 1500’s, 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 and the Koh-i-Noor.
The Beau Sancy was bought by Henri IV and gifted to his wife. After the King’s assassination and the Queen’s escape to the Netherlands it was sold to Prince Frederick Hendrick of Orange-Nassau (1584-1647). In 1641 it 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 grand-daughter of Marie de Medici. It was pawned to settle Mary Stuart’s debts. It went back to Orange Nassau for the wedding of Willem III (1650-1702) to Mary II Stuart, daughter of the King of England James II. Willem and Mary ascended to the throne of England, but died childless and the diamond went back to Orange Nassau. The Beau Sancy subsequently became the principal ornament of the new Crown of Prussia. After the Second World War the Beau Sancy passed passed to the eldest son of the Kaiser, Kronprinz Wilhelm (1882-1951) and his son, Prince Louis Ferdinand (1907-1994). After the death of Prince Louis Ferdinand, the diamond was inherited as part of the estate by his grandson, Georg Friedrich (1976-), Prince of Prussia and current head of the Royal House of Prussia. Sotheby’s estimate it at $2-4 million/
UPDATE: IT SOLD FOR $9,699,618 US dollars.