Editor’s Note
This article details the remarkable sale of a diamond brooch lost by Napoleon Bonaparte during his retreat from the Battle of Waterloo. The piece, a tangible fragment of history, has fetched a price far above expectations, underscoring the enduring fascination with this pivotal moment and its iconic figures.
A diamond brooch lost by Napoleon during his flight from Waterloo has been sold for a significant sum, far exceeding its estimated value, to a collector.
A diamond brooch and a large green beryl, both formerly owned by French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte, were auctioned on Wednesday in Geneva. Both sale prices far exceeded their pre-auction estimates, according to the auction house Sotheby’s.
The brooch, which can also be worn as a pendant, consists of an oval diamond weighing over 13 carats, surrounded by smaller cut diamonds. Its highest pre-auction estimate was 200,000 Swiss francs, but it sold for over 3.5 million francs. The hammer price was 2.85 million francs, excluding fees and other costs included in the final total price.
The immense difference is likely primarily due to the brooch’s history. According to reports, it was in one of the carriages that got stuck in the mud during Napoleon’s hasty flight from Waterloo. On June 21, 1815, three days after the battle, it was subsequently presented to Prussian King Frederick William III as a war trophy.
For more than two centuries, the jewels belonged to the inheritance of the Prussian royal House of Hohenzollern. Sotheby’s did not disclose the seller’s identity and stated the buyer was a “private collector.”
Among the other auctioned items was a green beryl weighing over 132 carats, which Napoleon allegedly wore at his coronation in 1804. The piece was sold for a hammer price of 838,000 francs, more than 17 times its highest pre-auction estimate.
Diamond expert Tobias Kormind told the AP news agency that the sale gained attractiveness following the spectacular theft of Napoleonic jewels from the Louvre in Paris last month.
