The Archduke Joseph Diamond: A Detailed History

The Archduke Joseph Diamond. Photo © Christie's Images Ltd. 2013. Used with permission. by Angela Magnotti Andrews This fantastic diamond, described by Vivienne Becker as "the supreme expression of the extraordinary," was most recently sold by Chairman of Black, Starr & Frost, Alfredo J. Molina at Christie's Geneva on November 13, 2012. The Archduke Joseph Diamond sold for an astonishing price of $21,474,525, ranking it #6 on EraGem's Top Twenty Diamonds & Jewels Sold at Auction. This sum set three world records and left the international jewelry industry gaping. Often cataloging the history of such an important jewel is like watching a play unfold. One character enters stage left just as another exits stage right. The curtain closes on one act, and the scenery changes before the curtain reopens. Act One of our play opens in Austria, in the hallowed halls of the Habsburg-Lorraines.

Act One: Among the Austrian Habsburgs

As with all the great stones of the Golconda mines in India, the Archduke Joseph Diamond has journeyed across the ages, picking up story after story along the way. Although much of the diamond's early history is lost to us, the stories the diamond has amassed in the present age are exciting, inspiring, and intriguing. Its documented history begins for us in 1933, as a result of the painstaking work of Count Johannes von Schoenborn-Wiesentheid, great-grandson of Archduke Joseph's sister, the Archduchess Margarethe Klementine Maria of Austria. Count Johannes had opportunity to converse with Princess Maria Fernanda of Thurn & Taxis. This writer has not been able to completely place the relationship between Count Johannes and Princess Maria, but it could be that she was his mother.

Connecting the Dots

The family tree of the Habsburgs presents a feat in sorting it all out, especially as one nears the 21st century. This writer presents below her best effort to connect the dots, so far, for the reader:

• Princess Maria of Thurn & Taxis was born in 1927 to Franz Joseph, 9th Prince of Thurn & Taxis (1893-1971) and his wife, Princess Isabel Maria.
• Prince Franz Joseph was born to Archduchess Margarethe Klementine Maria of Austria (1870-1955) and her husband, Albert, 8th Prince of Thurn & Taxis.
• The Archduchess Margarethe Klementine and Archduke Joseph August were brother and sister, born to Princess Clotilde of Saxe-Coburg & Gotha and the House of Habsburg-Lorraine (1846-1927) and her husband Archduke Joseph Karl of Austria.
• That makes Prince Franz Joseph the Archduke Joseph's nephew and Princess Maria of Thurn and Taxis his great-niece.
• Archduke Joseph August married Princess Augusta of Bavaria (1875-1964) in 1893.

So, according to Count Johannes, Princess Maria lived in the same dwelling (reportedly Regensburg Castle {2}) with her Great Aunt and Great Uncle (Archduke Joseph August and Princess Augusta). She related to the Count that she "recalls conversations with her aunt about a brooch with a large diamond which had been sold, that was originally handed down from her husband's grandmother Clementine d'Orleans, the daughter of King Louis Philippe of France" {2}. Let's take a closer look at these family connections, shall we?

• Clementine d'Orleans (1818-1881) of the House of Orleans, who married Prince August of Saxe-Coburg & Gotha, was mother to Princess Clotilde (1846-1927) of Saxe-Coburg Gotha.
• Princess Clotilde, who married the Archduke Joseph Karl of Austria (1833-1905) was mother to Archduke Joseph August and Archduchess Margarethe Klementine.

As the Story Goes

As the story goes, Clementine d'Orleans and Prince August of Saxe-Coburg & Gotha were married in 1843, during the glory days of Queen Victoria's reign over Great Britain with her beloved Prince Albert. According to Count Johannes, "All major diamonds mined in India were offered first to the British Crown, as rulers of the Raj" {2}. As such, the most important of the Golconda mines were either assumed into the British Crown Jewels (as in the case of the Koh-i-Nur diamond), or they were purchased outright by members of the Royal family, either for their own personal use or to be given as gifts to other European royals. It is well known that Queen Victoria and Prince Albert relished every opportunity to lavish their friends and family with jeweled gifts, designing many themselves. According to the Count, "the marriage of Prince August to the King of France's daughter was a very important political and social event" which would have warranted a most dazzling gift {2}. The fact that Prince August was cousin to both Queen Victoria and Prince Albert added to the import of choosing a meaningful gift {2}. It is the conclusion of the Count that the British Royals held nothing back, gifting the well-matched couple with a brooch set with what would later become the Archduke Joseph Diamond {4}. The Count further believes that Clementine d'Orleans gave the diamond brooch to her grandson, Archduke Joseph August, after her husband died in 1905 {3}. There is no documentation to confirm this, but there is no reason to nitpick on the point either. Here, the curtain closes on Act One. As the Habsburgs begin their exit stage left, the Archduke Joseph becomes almost a fabled object. Remaining largely out of the public eye for the next 60 years, the curtain opens on Act Two on a scene in Hungary.

Act Two: The Murky Years

Once again, historians owe Count Johannes von Schoenborn-Wiesentheid a great debt. He found, in a set of minutes dated June 1, 1933, that a diamond he is certain was the Archduke Joseph Diamond was noted to belong to the Archduke Joseph August. The minutes express that under the watchful eye of a state counselor {14}, this diamond was placed in the vault at the Hungarian General Credit Bank {2}. Both Lareef A. Samad, writing for Internet Stones, and Ryan Thompson, on his website Famous Diamonds, report that Archduke Joseph August bequeathed the diamond to his son, Joseph Francis. It is possible that they were referring to a note in the Christie's catalog proposing the possibility that the Archduke bequeathed it to his son. Christie's in no way makes an absolute statement out of this, nor do they provide a source for their information. Because the statement is not presented as fact by Christie's and since there appear to be no clear records indicating such a transfer, I believe further research of original sources would be required to verify this claim.  

The Diamond Resurfaces

Count Johannes reports that in 1936, the "diamond was sold to a European banker who kept it in a safe deposit box," which "miraculously" remained hidden from the Nazis during WWII {2}. Following this, the diamond takes a long hiatus from public record, traveling between banker, private collectors, and diamond dealers an unknown number of times. It would resurface no less than four times. The first time was in June 1961, when an anonymous seller negotiated with Sotheby's London to bring the stone to auction. Unfortunately for the seller, the diamond, reputed to be the largest loose diamond of its stature to be auctioned in Great Britain at the time, failed to meet its reserve price and was withdrawn from the sale. Soon after, a consortium of buyers from Hatton Garden, London's premier jewelry district, attempted to pool enough funds to purchase the diamond directly. This too failed, and the diamond sailed back under the radar once again. The astute director would fade the lights here, closing the curtain on Act Two.

Act Three: The Molina Years

The curtain opens for our final act on a sales floor at Christie's Geneva in November 1993.  On the block sits the illustrious Archduke Joseph Diamond, "a rectangular cushion-cut, D-color, SI-1 clarity diamond weighing 75.84 carats" {18}. According to Francois Curiel, international head of Christie's jewelry department, "The Archduke Joseph Diamond created a sensation... 9.7 million Swiss francs" to acquire it{19}. That is $6,487,945, the equivalent of almost $10 million in current dollars.

Enter Stage Left: Alfredo J. Molina

If not for the appearances of these magnificent stones at auction once in a blue moon, the public would have nary a clue as to their passage through time. The business of high-end historic stones is a tightly guarded network of experts, investors, and collectors. According to Marbella Magazine, "the flow of these worldwide...works on the same principles as a gentleman's club. Dealers know each other, news travels fast...and only a few reach the upper echelons, able to find and buy the rarest stones" {2}. Writing for the Orange County Register in 2012, David Ferrell asserts that Alfredo J. Molina, owner of Molina Fine Jewelers and chairman of one of America's most prestigious jewelry firms, Black, Starr & Frost, positioned himself to enter this exclusive club in the 1980s. The journalist writes of the coup d'etat which unseated President Ferdinand Marcos of the Philippines, releasing a number of high-end jewels onto the market. At that time, a New York attorney asked Mr. Molina to sell 15 pieces of the President's jewels. His success with those pieces not only afforded him entrance into this elite club, but positioned him perfectly for the acquisition of the Archduke Joseph Diamond almost 30 years later.  Mr. Molina no doubt had his eye on the diamond during the 1993 sale, but whether he could have imagined then that he would one day own it is a question one would have to ask the resourceful collector.

Reaching for the Diamond's Fullest Potential

Whether the stone made a more circuitous route to his vault, or whether he acquired it directly from the nameless collector who bought the stone from Christie's in 1993 remains a mystery. What is clear is that in 1999, Alfredo J. Molina purchased the prestigious stone for $12.5 million {15}. Well aware of the stone's potential for flawless internal clarity, he made the risky decision to have a scant 2.52 carats shaved off the stone. The benefits far outweighed the risks. In the end, the Archduke Joseph Diamond finally reached its fullest potential as an internally flawless (IF) diamond. In order to preserve the diamond's important provenance, Mr. Molina sent it back to the Gemological Institute of America (GIA) for re-examination in 2007. The prestigious laboratory confirmed "that the 76.02 carat diamond was cut from the diamond known as the 'Archduke of Joseph Diamond'" {cited: christie's/lotfinder}.

In the Spotlight

For several years, Alfredo J. Molina, worked tirelessly to find the perfect buyer for the Archduke Joseph Diamond. As a writer for Marbella Magazine noted, "a rare such as this should be shown off, placed lovingly around the neck of a beautiful woman who will add to its allure" {2}. To that end, Mr. Molina engaged a team of designers to craft a necklace worthy of the stone. Valued at $5 million in 2012, the Millennium Necklace, when sporting the Archduke Joseph Diamond, contained an astonishing 150.45 carats of glistening natural white diamonds. This alluring necklace was worn by some of the most beautiful and important women in the world, including Natalie Cole, the Duchess of York Sarah Ferguson, and Celine Dion, who wore the necklace on television in 2002, during her television special, "A New Day Has Come." The Millennium Necklace features 57 Millennium diamonds invisibly set, hefting a total carat weight of 73.15. These special diamonds are members of an elite group of 30,000 diamonds which have been named after the 10 brightest stars in the universe. Every diamond is inscribed with the name of one of these stars on its girdle. This particular necklace was made so that the Archduke Joseph Diamond could be snapped into a pendant suspended from the necklace by a cluster of three Millennium diamonds.

Promoting the Diamond Among the Elite

From 2002 until 2012, Alfredo J. Molina worked tirelessly to promote the diamond among his elite clientele. Offering the stone for a cool $25 million, he took out ads, interviewed for magazine articles, and loaned the Millennium Necklace and the Archduke Joseph Diamond to countless celebrities and jewelry advocates. The necklace was worn by the likes of Kim King (wife of Larry King), Patti Labelle, and The Jewelry Activist, Diane Warga-Arias, who got to wear the diamond and meet former President Bill Clinton in the same day. Though the stone's publicity afforded Mr. Molina a few interested buyers, the diamond remained firmly in his possession by 2012. Mr. Molina toyed off and on with the idea of putting the stone up for auction. He watched in astonishment as year after year the price of precious gemstones doubled, then tripled. After observing the show-stopping success of Christie's The Collection of Elizabeth Taylor auction in December 2011 and the astonishing sale of the Beau-Sancy diamond, which fetched twice its expected sales price at auction in Europe, Mr. Molina boarded a jet to began negotiations with Christie's to sell the Archduke Joseph Diamond {15}.

The Finale: A Momentous Sale

Mr. Molina and the staff at Christie's spent over $1 million marketing the gem. Five-hundred hard-cover catalogs were printed, with 39 pages devoted to the diamond. Mr. Molina dispatched official couriers, dressed in formal black tie including top hats, tails, and white gloves. To his most preeminent clients they presented exquisite invitations written in calligraphy on parchment scrolls {15}. In their catalog, Christie's described the noble stone as an "unmounted cushion-shaped diamond weighing approximately 76.02 carats, in purple leather fitted box." Reports from the GIA accompanied the stone, detailing that "to date the Archduke Joseph Diamond is the largest D-color, Internally Flawless diamond we have graded from the historic Golconda region." A 2012 report from the Gübelin GemLab established the diamond as the rarest of the rare--a Type IIa {5}. Gübelin GemLab further stated that the stone is "blessed with a purity of colour and high degree of transparency, which are particular to the world's finest natural type IIa diamond...Diamonds of this type and size, displaying such a superior quality as well as an antique cutting style, are extremely rare..." The auction house did not disclose their estimate of the jewel's value, but the press record shows that Mr. Molina consistently offered the jewel for $25 to $27 million between 2002 and 2012 {5}. According to writer David Ferrell, on the day of the sale, "Hundreds of people jammed the auction hall, spilling out of rear doors." Francois Curiel, President of Christie's Switzerland, describes the scene as "the busiest salesroom witnessed at the Four Seasons Hotel des Bergues in Geneva in recent years" {8}. With a final bid of $21,474,525, an anonymous "queen who intends to make an announcement later and exhibit the stone in a museum" {15} outbid Fred Mouawad, co-guardian of Guinness World Record holder Mouawad Jewelry {17}. To date, the anonymous queen has yet to make her bold announcement. Until then, the stone recedes once again into the murky annals of a private royal collection.

Bibliography

1. Antique Jewelry University, Lang Antiques. "Archduke Joseph Diamond." Accessed October 23, 2012. http://www.langantiques.com/university/index.php/Archduke_Joseph_Diamond. 
2. "Archduke Joseph, The" Absolute Marbella Magazine, February 2002.
3. Becker, Vivienne. "The Archduke Joseph Diamond: Divine Light and Princely Pedigree." Unforgettable: Black, Starr & Frost, 2012, Volume 20, p. 17-18.
4. Black, Starr & Frost. "Archduke Joseph Timeline." Accessed October 26, 2013. http://www.blackstarrfrost.com/exceptional-jewels/archduke-diamond/archduke-timeline/.
5. Christie's. "Lot 350 The Archduke Joseph Diamond." Accessed October 26, 2013. http://www.christies.com/lotfinder/jewelry/the-archduke-joseph-diamond-5620285-details.aspx?from=searchresults&intObjectID=5620285&sid=6d6216d2-4cc1-4e36-841a-853484c5b630#features-videos.
6. Christie's. "Special Feature: The Archduke Joseph Diamond." Accessed October 26, 2013. http://www.christies.com/sales/geneva-jewels-november-2012/special-feature.aspx.
7. Christie's Press Center. "Release: A Diamond Fit for a Queen," October 2, 2012. http://www.christies.com/about/press-center/releases/pressrelease.aspx?pressreleaseid=5834.
8. Christie's Press Center. "Release: The Archduke Joseph Fetched US$21.5 M/SFR.20.4 M, A World Auction Record for a Colourless Diamond--Geneva, 13 November 2012," November 14, 2012. http://www.christies.com/about/press-center/releases/pressrelease.aspx?pressreleaseid=5962.
9. Christie's Press Center. "Results: Magnificent Jewels & The Archduke Joseph Diamond-Geneva, 13 November 2012," November 14, 2012. http://www.christies.com/about/press-center/releases/pressrelease.aspx?pressreleaseid=5961.
10. Cordova, Randy. "Jeweler Stays Grounded," Arizona Business Gazette, date unknown. https://www.molinafinejewelers.com/images/document/abg.pdf.
11. Davidson & Co. Jewels. "2 Nights, 2 Diamonds, 2 World Records: The Stunning Sales of Two Very Different Diamonds and Other Auction 'Gems'". Published November 15, 2012. http://www.davidsonjewels.com/davidson-blog/2012/11/15/2-nights-2-diamonds-2-world-records-the-stunning-sales-of-tw.html.
12. "Diamond Fetches a Record $21.5M in Auction." USA Today, November 13, 2012.
13. Donahue, Peggy Jo. "Oscar Entrée," Professional Jeweler Magazine, June 2002.
14. Famous Diamonds. "The Archduke Joseph." Accessed October 26, 2013. http://famousdiamonds.tripod.com/archdukejosephdiamond.html.
15. Ferrell, David. "Jeweler Dazzles the Diamond World," Orange County Register, December 5, 2012, updated August 21, 2013.
16. Michael. "The Archduke Joseph," Diamond Articles. Accessed October 23, 2013. http://www.diamondarticles.com/2012/07/16/the-archduke-joseph-6/.
17. "Mouawad, The Underbidder on The Archduke Joseph Diamond in Geneva, Which Fetched a World Record Price for a Colorless Diamond at US $21.4m." PRWeb, October 28, 2013. http://www.prweb.com/releases/archduke-joseph-diamond/mouawad-11-2012/prweb10147271.htm.
18. Samad, Lareef A. "The Archduke Joseph Diamond." Last modified December 27, 2011. http://www.internetstones.com/archduke-joseph-diamond-famous-jewelry.html.
19. VN, Sreeja. "Archduke Joseph Diamond: The Most Famous Golconda Gem to Fetch Over $15 Million in Auction," International Business Times, October 28, 2013.
20. Wikipedia. "Archduke Joseph August of Austria." Accessed October 26, 2013. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archduke_Joseph_August_of_Austria.