A rare pink diamond is going on display in France for the first time since it was stolen almost 100 years ago to the day, marking the first time it will be shown to the public since that era. The nine-carat, pear-shaped gemstone known as the Grand Condé was taken during an overnight raid on the Château de Chantilly in October 1926 and concealed inside a hollowed-out apple.
As one of the few royal jewels to survive the French Revolution, the diamond was recovered just a few weeks after the theft when a hungry maid at the hotel where the thieves were staying bit into the apple. The gemstone will once again be exhibited in the Condé Museum at the Château de Chantilly until January 3.
Mathieu Deldicque, the museum's director, acknowledged that while the apple tale sounds improbable, it was heavily documented by newspapers during that period. Deldicque has faced inquiries regarding whether the exhibition might tempt fate, particularly given recent heists targeting European cultural institutions over the past year, such as the daring daylight robbery of jewelry from the Louvre museum in Paris.
While he declined to disclose the insurance value of the diamond, he emphasized that extensive academic research into its properties has been conducted to ensure it is uniquely identifiable. The exhibition features the findings of this analysis alongside previously unseen archival materials detailing the history and theft of the gem, according to the museum.
Naturally occurring pink diamonds are exceptionally rare and frequently command tens of millions of dollars at auction. Sotheby's noted that the record price for such a diamond reached $71.2 million in 2017.
The precise origins of the Grand Condé continue to be shrouded in mystery. It first appeared in historical records in 1740 within an inventory compiled after the death of Louis Henri de Bourbon, Prince of Condé, as noted by the Château de Chantilly.
The gemstone subsequently entered the collection of Queen Marie-Amélie of Bourbon-Sicily, wife of French King Louis Philippe I, and was later passed to her son, Prince Henri of Orléans, the Duke of Aumale. He ultimately bequeathed it to the Institut de France, which currently owns the Château de Chantilly—located 50 kilometers north of Paris—along with thousands of artworks and manuscripts comprising the Musée Condé collection.