This 76.02 carat cushion-shaped Golconda diamond, D colour and internally flawless, is being auctioned today by Christies in Geneva. The estimate is available upon request, but it last sold in 1993 for $6,480,000.

The provenance is fascinating. As per Christies: “The Archduke Joseph Diamond, a 76.02 carat cushion shaped diamond, of perfect D colour and Internally Flawless clarity possesses a charm like no other diamond. Its impressive size and superb quality, combined with its Golconda origin and Historical Habsburg provenance make it one of the world’s most famous and desirable diamonds to appear at auction. It was named after its first recorded owner, Archduke Joseph August of Austria (1872-1962), Palatine of Hungary.

Joseph August was born in Alcsùt, Hungary on 9 November 1872, the first son of Archduke Joseph Carl (1833-1905) and Princess Clothilde of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (1846-1927). He was the great grandson of Emperor Leopold II through his father and the great grandson of King Louis Philippe of France though his mother. His wife Princess Augusta of Bavaria, whom he married in 1893, was from noble lineage herself being the granddaughter of ‘Sisi’ Empress Elisabeth and Emperor Franz Joseph of Austria.

Little is known about the exact history of the diamond but it is believed that Archduke Joseph August passed the diamond on to his son, Archduke Joseph Francis (1895-1957), and records show that the diamond was deposited in the vault of the Hungarian General Credit Bank on 1st June 1933 in the presence of a State Counselor. Three years later it was sold to an anonymous buyer who deposited it in a safe during the Second World War. The diamond re-appeared on 22 June 1961 at auction in London, and subsequently in November 1993 at Christie’s Geneva where it sold for $ 6,480,000.

The sale of the Archduke Joseph diamond presents a unique opportunity for both new and established collectors to own one of the world’s most beautiful gems of not only incomparable quality but also of historical and gemological significance.”