The brooch was one of the personal effects that the emperor had to abandon in his flight to the plain of Waterloo from British and Prussian soldiers after the famous battle which sealed his fall.
A brooch adorned with diamonds that belonged to Napoleon Bonaparte and recovered by the Prussian army in Waterloo was sold on Wednesday for a record price of 3.79 million euros in Geneva, announced the Sotheby’s auction house. The sale price of this historic jewel, one of the most prominent pieces of this luxury week on the banks of Lake Geneva, far exceeded the expectations of Sotheby’s, which had estimated it between 130,000 and 220,000 euros.
The brooch was one of the personal effects that the emperor had to abandon in his flight to the plain of Waterloo (near Brussels, in present-day Belgium) from British and Prussian soldiers at the end of the famous battle which sealed his fall. The circular jewel, approximately 45 mm in diameter, presents in its center a large oval diamond of 13.04 carats, surrounded by nearly a hundred old mine-cut diamonds, of varied shapes and sizes, arranged in two concentric rows.
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«Orner son bicorne»
This unique piece was created for Napoleon around 1810, “probably to adorn his cocked hat on special occasions”specifies the auction house. It was then offered among other objects to the Prussian King Frederick William III as a war trophy on June 21, 1815, just three days after the Battle of Waterloo.
The week was also marked by traditional sales of prestigious watches, such as the Rolex Oyster, one of the first waterproof wristwatches worn by endurance swimmer Mercedes Gleitze (1900-1981), the first Briton to swim the English Channel. Estimated at more than 1.1 million euros, it was sold for 1.46 million euros.
Another centerpiece of the Sotheby’s sales, «The Glowing Rose» or “Dazzling pink”a 10.08-carat bright pink diamond estimated to be worth around $20 million, was finally withdrawn from sales Wednesday evening. Asked by AFP, Sotheby’s was not immediately available to provide explanations for this withdrawal.