A large pink diamond believed to have been passed down from France’s Queen Marie Antoinette to her daughter is going up for auction in New York next month — and is expected to sell for millions of dollars.
The rare 10-carat diamond is set in a ring designed by jeweler Joel Arthur Rosenthal. It will be a part of the “Magnificent Jewels” live auction at Christie’s Rockefeller Center location on June 17.
The kite-shaped jewel is believed to date back to the mid-18th century and was once owned by Antoinette’s daughter, Duchess Marie-Thérèse, the auction house said.
“According to royal lore, Queen Marie Antoinette entrusted her most treasured jewels to her faithful coiffeur on the eve of her failed escape from Paris in 1791, hoping to one day reclaim them,” Christie’s said in a news release.
That did not happen, but the jewels were passed down to Marie-Thérèse. While it’s not certain, it’s believed the pink diamond was part of the jewels passed down.
The diamond continued to be passed down for generations until it was sold at auction in 1996 in Geneva, Christie’s said. It has remained out of public view since then.
Rahul Kadakia, the international head of jewelry at Christie’s, called the jewel a “very special diamond.”
“It is a fancy purple-pink diamond from the 18th century and most likely from the Golconda mines in India,” Kadakia told The Associated Press.
It is estimated to sell for $3 million to $5 million at the auction.
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