Royal pink diamond to be auctioned

Source: Xinhua | 2017-10-19

A large, pink diamond once set in the crowns of numerous French kings and emperors will go under the hammer in Geneva on November 14, the Christie’s auction house said yesterday.

“Le Grand Mazarin,” a 19.07-carat light pink diamond, was a gift to Louis XIV in 1661 and was set in the crowns of almost all of the monarchs and emperors of France who followed, Christie’s said.

The diamond is “a timeless symbol of beauty, a French royal treasure adorning no fewer than seven kings and queens beginning with the Sun King Louis XIV,” Christie’s chairman for Europe and Asia, Francois Curiel, said in a statement.

“Above all, it is a witness to 350 years of European history. This stone belongs to a class of its own,” he said.

The gem was named after Cardinal Mazarin, an Italian cardinal and diplomat, as well as a great art collector, who served as chief minister under Louis XIII and Louis XIV.