Diamonds, Dynasties and Drama: Marie Antoinette’s Smuggled Pink Diamond Resurfaces, Heads to Christie’s Auction

Christie’s forthcoming “Magnificent Jewels” auction will feature a bevy of historic pieces, including a diamond once owned by Marie Antoinette. The live auction will take place on June 17 at New York City’s Rockefeller Center and feature the Marie-Thérèse Pink Diamond. The purple-pink modified kite brilliant-cut diamond featuring 10.38 carats holds an estimated value between $3 million to $5 million. The piece is believed to date to the mid-18th century, per Christie’s, and holds with it storied lore regarding its past owners. Marie Antoinette’s Storied Marie-Thérèse Pink Diamond is part of Christie’s “Magnificent Jewels” auction. Courtesy of Christie's According to Christie’s, Marie Antoinette trusted her most valuable jewels with her faithful coiffeur on the night before her failed escape from Paris in 1791, in the hope of retrieving them one day. Unable to escape the ongoing revolution, Marie Antoinette never saw her jewels again. The pieces from the Queen of France‘s famous collection were passed down to her only surviving child, Duchess Marie-Thérèse de Angoulême, and then to her niece, Duchess Marie-Thérèse de Chambord. While details remain unclear, it is believed the Marie-Thérèse Pink Diamond was part of the inheritance. Madame Royale, Marie-Antoinette’s surviving daughter Marie-Thérèse Charlotte of France, in an 1816 portrait by French

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