Rare pink diamond goes on display in France nearly 100 years after 1926 theft

A rare pink diamond called the Grand Condé is being shown to visitors at the Château de Chantilly, 50km (31 miles) north of Paris, for the first time since it was stolen in October 1926, almost a century ago. The exhibition at the Condé Museum runs until 3 January.

The nine-carat, pear-shaped stone is one of the few royal jewels to have survived the French Revolution.

The apple theft

In October 1926, thieves raided the château overnight and hid the diamond inside a hollowed-out apple. It was recovered a few weeks later, when a hungry maid at the hotel where the thieves were staying bit into the apple. Museum director Mathieu Deldicque acknowledges the story may sound far-fetched, but says newspapers covered it widely at the time.

Security questions

Deldicque has been asked whether the show is tempting fate, given a string of heists at European cultural institutions over the past year, including the daylight jewellery robbery at the Louvre in Paris. He declined to say how much the diamond is insured for, but noted that detailed academic study of its properties has made it uniquely identifiable. The results of that analysis, along with archive material about the gem's history and theft that has not been seen before, are part of the exhibition.

History

Naturally occurring pink diamonds are exceptionally rare and often sell for tens of millions of dollars. The highest auction price for one was $71.2m (£53.6m) in 2017, according to Sotheby's. The origins of the Grand Condé are unknown. It was first recorded in 1740 in an inventory of the possessions of Louis Henri de Bourbon, Prince of Condé, drawn up after his death. It later joined the collection of Queen Marie-Amélie, wife of King Louis Philippe I of France, and then passed to her son, Prince Henri of Orléans, Duke of Aumale. He left it to the Institut de France, which now owns the château, along with thousands of artworks and manuscripts that make up the Condé Museum collection.