A diamond brooch, believed to have belonged to Napoleon Bonaparte, was purchased by a private collector for $4.4 million at a Sotheby’s auction in Geneva.
This significantly exceeded the estimated value of $150-250 thousand.
According to the lot description, this brooch can be clearly identified as a hat decoration left by Napoleon in his carriage during his retreat from the battlefield at Waterloo in 1815. The Prussian army then captured and confiscated at least two carriages carrying the emperor’s personal belongings, including his medals, weapons, silverware, hat, and jewelry box.
Field Marshal Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher made a note that he had sent Napoleon’s captured hat and sword to the Prussian King Frederick William III because they had symbolic value. The brooch remained in the possession of the royal house of Hohenzollern for about two centuries, and in recent years has been in a private collection.
The jewelry is round in shape. In its center is an oval diamond weighing 13.04 carats. The main stone is surrounded by nearly a hundred smaller diamonds of various shapes and sizes.
Another lot related to Napoleon was presented at the Royal & Noble Jewels auction – a green beryl weighing almost 133 carats. The first written mention of this stone appears in the will of Elizabeth Ludovika of Bavaria, Queen of Prussia. It is described as “an aquamarine in a diamond setting worn by Napoleon during his coronation.”
The green beryl was sold for $32,000, with an estimate of $40,000-60,000.
