Another piece of history is hitting the auction block on May 15th. With truly royal connections, French, English, and Prussian to be precise the Beau Sancy diamond is one for the books. Weighing in at 35 carats, the rose cut diamond has been described as flawless and colorless. For the past 300 years it has been passed down from generation to generation of the House of Prussia and is currently owned by 36 year old Prince Georg Friedrich, great-great-grandson of the final German Kaiser.
Now, before we get into the stone’s history, I’d like to take a moment to discuss the stone’s cut. What exactly is a rose cut anyways? Well, man wasn’t born knowing how to cut diamonds with precision angles, in the beginning it was actually frowned upon to cut the things at all. Then one day, someone figured out that by grinding diamonds against one another, they could be cut. The rose cut is one of the earliest cuts and it was prevalent in Europe from the 17th to the 19th centuries. A rose cut diamond has a flat bottom with rows of triangular facets arranged in a symmetrical or radiating pattern all over the top. Unlike their more modern counterparts, rose cut diamonds have no table facet and they were also never perfectly round as they were faceted around whatever shape the rough took naturally. The Beau Sancy is cut in a version of the rose cut called a double rose. This means that the stone does not have the typical rose cut flat bottom and is instead double sided with the front looking identical to the back. This illustration shows the facet pattern. It's very Easter Egg like, isn't it?
The Beau Sancy dates back to the 1500’s when it was unearthed from the famed Golconda mines which are well known for producing such stones as the Hope and the Koh-I-Noor. It’s first owner, King Henry IV, gave it as a gift to his wife Marie de Medicis who wore it proudly to her coronation as Queen of France In 1604. Didn't she look fancy? I'm actually amazed that she was able to stand unassisted as that getup had to weigh a ton! It also reminds me of that Christmas Story movie. "I can't put my arms down!"
Unfortunately, following her husband’s assassination, the Queen fell on hard times and was forced to sell many of her possession, including the Beau Sancy, to pay her debts. The diamond was then acquired by Prince Frederick Hendrick of Orange-nassau who used it to seal the wedding of his son Willem to English Princess Mary Stuart. After her husband’s death, Mary returned to England where in 1662 she also pawned the stone to settle debts. I’m beginning to notice a trend here. The stone was eventually reacquired by her family in 1677 and became a part of the Queen’s Jewels. Eventually the stone ended up in the House of Prussia, no doubt due to Prussian ties throughout the years, where it has remained for the past 300 years.
David Bennet, chairman of Sotheby’s jewellery department speaks highly of the gem saying that “the Beau Sancy is one of the most fascinating and romantic gems every to appear at auction and it is an immense privilege for Sotheby’s to handle the sale”. Fascinating indeed, as the Beau Sancy has only appeared in public four times in the last fifty years. But all of that is about to change as Sotheby’s plans an international tour of the famous gem with stops in Hong Kong, New York, Rome, Paris, London, Zurich, and Geneva prior to its May auction date. The stone is expected to sell for between 2 and 4 million dollars.Think I could find that much money under my couch cushions? No? Darn.
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