The Briolette of India Diamond, weighing 90.45 carats, is known for its rare sparkle and great purity. First set on a pendant by Cartier in 1909, it later graced the design of a brooch and then a necklace again. Sold on successive occasions, the diamond now belongs to an aristocratic European family.
Outstanding gems are sometimes the stuff of extravagant stories. Such is the case of the 90.45-carat Briolette of India diamond. According to legend, King Louis VII of France bought it in Asia Minor in the twelfth century as a gift for his wife, Eleanor of Aquitaine. But Eleanor, the French queen, then became the queen of England upon her second marriage, and apparently bequeathed the diamond to her son Richard the Lionheart. It was subsequently worn by Diane of Poitiers (the mistress of King Henry II of France), then vanished for nearly four hundred years. This most royal of legends, however, was refuted in the early twentieth century.
In fact, the Briolette, which actually came from a rough diamond discovered in South Africa around 1900, was cut by the great Armenian stonecutter Atanki Eknayan (who had moved to France in 1872), and then bought by Cartier in 1909. Cartier set the diamond on a pendant beneath a 126-grain natural pearl and a lozenge-shape diamond. The following year, the jeweler added two 22-carat emeralds to compose a brooch. However, it was once again transformed into a necklace before being shipped to New York in 1911 where it was purchased by George Blumenthal, a financier, great art collector and loyal Cartier client. In 1956 Blumenthal’s widow sold the diamond to Harry Winston, who later sold it in turn. Since 1971, it belonged to a wealthy European family before being sold again at auction in 2023.
