Editor’s Note
A diamond brooch once owned by Emperor Napoleon I sold for €3.817 million at Sotheby’s Geneva, far exceeding its pre-sale estimate of €129,000–215,000.
The spectacular diamond brooch of Emperor Napoleon I, the star lot of the prestigious “Royal & Noble Jewel” auction held by Sotheby’s in Geneva on Wednesday, November 12, 2025, was sold for the handsome sum of a little over 3.817 million euros.
It had been estimated between 120,000 and 200,000 Swiss francs (approximately 129,000 to 215,000 euros). A significant sum but ultimately paltry compared to the final price achieved.
This jewel, approximately 45 mm in diameter, consists of a large 13.04-carat oval diamond, surrounded by about a hundred old-cut diamonds of various shapes and sizes, arranged in two concentric rows. It was recovered on June 18, 1815, on the battlefield of Waterloo. As his army was in disarray, the emperor had to abandon some of the wagons containing his belongings after they became bogged down. Among them were precious jewels, including this sumptuous circular diamond brooch, a unique piece created specially for him around 1810, probably to adorn his bicorne on special occasions.
Three days after it was recovered, this jewel that had belonged to his illustrious enemy was offered as a war trophy to the King of Prussia, Frederick William III, along with a few other items taken from the abandoned imperial carriages, such as a hat and a sword. Passed down to his successors on the Prussian throne and then that of the German Empire, this jewel remained in the collections of the House of Hohenzollern for a very long time, before more recently passing into other private hands.
Another Napoleonic memento was among the lots of this “Royal and Noble” sale: an unmounted green beryl, cushion-shaped, weighing 132.66 carats. Also imprinted with major historical significance, this stone is said to have been worn by Napoleon on his crimson velvet coronation robe lined with ermine.
As for the pink diamond ring that belonged to Empress Catherine I of Russia and more recently to the private collection of Princess Neslishah-Sultan (1921-2012), one of the last great princesses of the Ottoman Empire, it was hammered down at twelve times its low estimate to reach 2,917,000 Swiss francs (nearly 3.135 million euros).
He also emphasized being “just as moved” that among the most sumptuous royal jewels was “something as modest but historically significant as the embroidery sample used for the creation of the illustrious coronation gown of Queen Elizabeth II, designed by Norman Hartnell in 1952.”