The 34.98 carat jewel was sold at Sotheby’s in the Swiss city Geneva for more than double the sum auctioneers had expected to attract.
The Beau Sancy diamond, a centuries-old diamond passed down through generations of European royalty, fetched nine million Swiss francs ($9.7 million) at a Sotheby’s auction in Geneva, Switzerland on May 15, 2012. An anonymous telephone bidder purchased the jewel, put on the market by the House of Prussia. The 35-carat Beau Sancy diamond was worn by Marie de Medici, Queen consort of Henry IV, at her coronation in 1610. 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. The 400 year old pear double rose cut diamond belonged to Georg Friedrich, Prince of Prussia and head of the former ruling dynasty of the German empire.
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