Napoleon's Diamond Brooch Leads Sotheby's Sale
October 26, 25
(IDEX Online) - Treasures that once belonged to Napoleon Bonaparte are to be offered for sale by Sotheby's Geneva on 12 November.
Details of the auction were revealed on Friday (24 October), less than a week after the devastating raid on the Louvre, in which items from the French crown jewels, valued at over $100m, were stolen.
Highlight of the Royal & Noble Jewels Sale is Napoleon's unique brooch featuring old mine and mazarin-cut diamonds that was pinned to his hat during the 1815 Battle of Waterloo.
At its center is a large oval diamond weighing 13.04 carats, surrounded by nearly 100 old mine-cut diamonds arranged in two concentric rows.
The brooch was seized by the victorious Prussian army as the defeated Napoleon fled.
It appears for the first time at auction with an estimate of CHF 120,000 to 200,000 (USD 150,000 to 250,000).
"In his haste to flee Waterloo, where his armies had been overwhelmed by the combined forces of the British and Prussian armies, Napoleon had to abandon some of his carriages when they got stuck in a muddy road a few miles away from the battlefield - including the carriage containing those precious belongings," Sotheby's said.
Three days later the brooch was presented to Prussian King Friedrich Wilhelm III as a battle trophy.
It remained within the House of Hohenzollern for centuries, and passed down to emperors of Germany. It has been part of a different private collection for the last few years.
Pic of brooch courtesy Sotheby's.