Rare Grand Condé Pink Diamond Goes on Public Display in France
The nine-carat French royal gem is being exhibited at the Château de Chantilly for the first time since it was stolen in 1926.
At a glance
- The Grand Condé, a nine-carat rare pink diamond, is on display at the Château de Chantilly for the first time since its 1926 theft.
- Stolen in an overnight heist, the gem was found weeks later when a hotel maid bit into an apple where it was hidden.
- The jewel, which survived the French Revolution, is accompanied in the exhibition by newly revealed historical archives.
A rare nine-carat pink diamond known as the "Grand Condé" is being displayed to the public at the Château de Chantilly in France for the first time in nearly a century. The exhibition at the Condé Museum, located roughly 50 kilometres (31 miles) north of Paris, runs until 3 January.
The pear-shaped jewel was last shown publicly before an overnight raid in October 1926, when thieves took it from the estate. The perpetrators hid the gem inside a hollowed-out apple, but the diamond was recovered just weeks later after a hotel maid took a bite of the fruit. Museum director Mathieu Deldicque noted that while the recovery story appears extraordinary, it was widely reported in newspapers at the time.
Provenance and Royal History
The exact origins of the Grand Condé remain unknown, though historical records first mention it in a 1740 inventory following the death of Louis Henri de Bourbon, Prince of Condé. It is one of the few pieces of royal jewellery that survived the French Revolution.
The gemstone later became part of the collection of Queen Marie-Amélie of Bourbon-Sicily, wife of King Louis Philippe I. Her son, Prince Henri of Orléans, Duke of Aumale, subsequently bequeathed it alongside thousands of artworks and manuscripts to the Institut de France, which owns the Château de Chantilly.
Security and Exhibition Details
Natural pink diamonds are exceptionally rare, with one fetching an auction record of $71.2 million (£53.6 million) at Sotheby's in 2017. Amid concerns over recent high-profile heists at European cultural sites—such as a daytime theft at the Louvre in Paris—Deldicque faced questions regarding the risks of exhibiting the treasure.
While the museum director declined to disclose the diamond's insured value, he explained that extensive academic testing had analysed its properties to ensure it remains uniquely identifiable. The exhibition features the findings of this scientific analysis alongside previously unseen archival documents detailing the jewel's history and recovery.
Source: BBC World.
Questions and answers
- What is the Grand Condé diamond?
- The Grand Condé is a rare nine-carat, pear-shaped pink diamond and one of the few French royal jewels that survived the French Revolution.
- How was the Grand Condé diamond recovered in 1926?
- Thieves hid the stolen gem inside a hollowed-out apple, which was recovered weeks later when a hotel maid took a bite of it.
- Where is the Grand Condé diamond on display?
- It is being exhibited at the Condé Museum in the Château de Chantilly, located 50 kilometres north of Paris, until 3 January.
