A diamond brooch once owned by French emperor Napoleon, lost during his flight from the Battle of Waterloo in the early 19th century, sold for more than 3.5 million Swiss francs (about $4.4 million) at a Geneva auction on Wednesday, according to Sotheby’s.
The brooch, which can also be worn as a pendant, features an oval diamond weighing over 13 carats, surrounded by smaller cut diamonds. Remarkably, the sale price far exceeded the high end of the pre-sale estimate of 200,000 francs. The hammer price was 2.85 million francs, with fees and other charges bringing the final aggregate to over 3.5 million francs.
This historic jewel was discovered among Napoleon’s personal belongings in carriages that became stuck on muddy roads as he and his troops retreated from the Duke of Wellington’s British forces and the Prussian army under Field Marshal von Blücher, according to Sotheby’s. For more than two centuries, the brooch remained a treasured heirloom of the Prussian Royal House of Hohenzollern.
Sotheby’s did not disclose the identity of the seller but noted that the buyer was a “private collector.”
Among dozens of lots offered at the auction was a green beryl gemstone weighing over 132 carats, which Napoleon is believed to have worn at his 1804 coronation. This jewel sold for a hammer price of 838,000 francs — more than 17 times the high-end pre-sale estimate.
The sale drew additional attention following last month’s much-publicized theft of Napoleonic jewels from the Louvre museum in Paris. Tobias Kormind, managing director of online jeweler 77 Diamonds, commented: “Given the recent Louvre heist and the provenance of arguably the most famous French figure in history, I’m not surprised the jewel achieved a majestic 3.5 million francs. The brooch arrives at a moment of renewed global fascination with Napoleonic jewels, and its story is irresistible.”
Later on Wednesday, Sotheby’s was set to hold a “high jewelry” auction featuring a 10-carat pink diamond tentatively known as the “Glowing Rose.” The stone, unearthed in Angola’s Lulo mine, is expected to fetch around $20 million.
https://www.orlandosentinel.com/2025/11/12/napoleon-diamond-brooch-auction/
