Editor’s Note
A record-breaking sale in Geneva saw the legendary Archduke Joseph Diamond fetch nearly $21.5 million, setting a new per-carat benchmark for a colorless diamond.
The famous and mysterious Archduke Joseph Diamond has been auctioned for nearly $21.5 million (€16.9 million). The winning bid for the 76.02-carat gemstone was placed by a telephone bidder on Tuesday evening during a Christie’s jewelry auction in Geneva. This achieved a record price per carat (0.2 grams) of $282,545 for a colorless diamond, said François Curiel, director of Christie’s jewelry department.
The auction price, including commission and fees, was over a million dollars above the previously stated highest estimate. The new owner remained anonymous—like so many who once owned the crystal-clear “lump” the size of a domino tile from the legendary Golconda mine in India.
The first known owner was Archduke Joseph August of Austria (1872–1962). He bequeathed the stone to his son, who sold it in 1936. It reappeared at an auction in London in 1961 and changed hands again in 1993.
For the past 13 years, as has only now become known, the diamond mostly slumbered in the safe of US jeweler Alfredo J. Molina. The head of the company Molina Fine Jewelers, based in New York and Phoenix (Arizona, USA), said he parted with one of his favorite pieces with a heavy heart.
The stone is considered the most beautiful and perfect of all diamonds from the Golconda mine ever to appear at auction. Experts praise it for its flawless clarity. The diamond’s appreciation in the jewelry market is impressive: at an auction in 1993, it was sold for $6.5 million—to a bidder who also remained anonymous. Nearly 20 years later, Christie’s has now achieved more than triple that amount.