Famous diamonds : The Last Diamond… The Florentine
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the florentine diamondfilm le dernier diamant, le florentinThe Florentine, a legendary diamond is celebrated this week with the release of the movie “Le Dernier Diamant” produced by Eric Barbier. It is about a man who is on probation and up to a big hold-up: stealing the “Florentine”. An auction, some intrigues and unexpected developments are the ingredients of a plot that recalls the eventful history of the “Florentine”.
Named alternatively the “Florentine”, the “Tuscan”, “the Grand Duke of Tuscany”, this pale yellow diamond of 137,27 carats double rose cut with 126 facets on 9 sides is said to have been owned by Charles the Bold – Duke of Burgundy. According to the legend the Duke gave three diamonds for cutting to Lodewyk van Berken, a famous cutter, among them the “Florentine”. He would wear it on the battlefields and probably was wearing it the day he was killed at the Battle of Nancy in 1477. A man allegedly found it and sold it to a priest for one florin.
The florentine, the last diamondThe authentic history of the “Florentine” begins with its ownership by the Medicis in Florence in 1665, this diamond is mentioned in Jean Baptiste Tavernier’s book Les Six Voyages de Jean Baptiste Tavernier: “ The Great Duke of Tuscany’s Diamond weighs 139 carats, clean and well-shaped cut in facets every way; but in regard the water inclines somewhat toward the colour of Citron”.
According to Tavernier, the “Florentine” was the biggest diamond known in Europe at that time and looked very much like Indian-cut diamonds… It seems unlikely that this diamond was the one owned by the Duke of Burgundy.
The “Florentine” leaves Florence in 1743 for Austria where it is mounted on Francois 1er – emperor of Austria –‘s crown. It remains in the hands of the Habsburg until the end of World War I and the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. As a result, the royal family moves to Switzerland and leaves as security the “Florentine” mounted on a brooch to the jeweller Alphons Sonderheimer through Baron Steiner de Valmont. Since 1922 the precious yellow diamond remains nowhere to be found, the rumour has it that it has been recut.
Two diamonds have been subject to speculations: the first is called “Shah of Persia” and probably belongs to the Delhi treasure, this cushion cut diamond weighs 99,52 carats was first presented in the USA in 1923; the second one of 81,56 carats is known as The “Duke of Tuscany” and was put up for auction by Christie’s in Geneva in 1981.
The “Florentine” with its multiple names and facets continues to be a subject of controversy and to inspire. In his movie « The Last Diamond » Eric Barbier adds a love story and a hold-up to the legend.
The Florentine Diamond is a lost diamond of Indian origin. It is light yellow in colour with very slight green overtones. It is cut in the form of an irregular (although very intricate) nine-sided 126-facet double rose cut, with a weight of 137.27 carats (27.454 g). The stone is also known as the Tuscan, the Tuscany Diamond, the Grand Duke of Tuscany, the Austrian Diamond and the Austrian Yellow Diamond.
The stone's origins are disputed. Reportedly, it has been cut by Lodewyk van Berken for Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy.[1] Charles is said to have been wearing it when he fell in the Battle of Morat on June 22, 1476. A peasant or foot soldier found it on the Duke's person and sold it for a florin, thinking it was glass. The new owner Bartholomew May, a citizen of Bern, sold it to the Genoese, who sold it in turn to Ludovico Sforza. By way of the Fuggers it came into the Medici treasury at Florence. Pope Julius II is also named as one of its owners.
Another version of the stone's early history is that the rough stone was acquired in the late 16th century from the King of Vijayanagar in southern India by the Portuguese Governor of Goa, Ludovico Castro, Count of Montesanto, after the king's defeat by Portuguese troops. The crystal was deposited with the Jesuits in Rome until, after lengthy negotiations, Ferdinando I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany succeeded in buying it from the Castro-Noronha family for 35,000 Portuguese scudi crocati.
Duke Ferdinand's son, Cosimo II, finally entrusted his father's purchase to a cutter, Pompeo Studentoli, a Venetian working in Florence. The finished gem was delivered on October 10, 1615. An inventory drawn up on Cosimo's death confirms the acquisition of the rough diamond by Ferdinand and describes the gem as 'faceted on both sides and encircled by a diamond encrusted band'.
Documented history begins when Jean Baptiste Tavernier, the French jeweller and traveller, saw the stone among the possessions of Ferdinando II de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany in 1657. It then passed into the hands of the Habsburgs when the last of the Medicis died through the marriage of Francis III Stephan of Lorraine to Empress Maria Theresa of Austria and was placed in the Habsburg Crown Jewels in the Hofburg in Vienna. At the time, it was valued at $750,000.
After the fall of the Austrian Empire during World War I, the stone was taken by Charles I of Austria into exile in Switzerland. The stone was stolen some time after 1918 by a person close to the Imperial family and taken to South America with other gems of the Crown Jewels. After this, it was rumoured that the diamond was brought into the United States in the 1920s and was recut and sold.
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