Rare pink diamond steals the spotlight in France 100 years after heist

A rare pink diamond is unveiled in France for the first time since it was stolen nearly 100 years ago to the day after it was last put on public display.

The nine-carat pear-shaped gemstone primarily known as “Grand Conde” was stolen during a nocturnal heist on the Chateau on Chantilly in October 1926 and hidden in a hallowed-out apple.

The diamond marks one of few royal jewels to survive the French Revolution that was recovered a few weeks hours later, after a hungry maid at the hotel in which the thieves were staying took a bite of the apple.

The museum’s director Mathieu Deldicque clarified that while the apple’s story may sound unbelievable, it received extensive press coverage at the time.

Deldicque has faced questions about whether the exhibition may be courting disaster particularly given the string of heists on European cultural institutions in the past one year, including an audacious daytime jewelry heist at the Louvre Museum in Paris.

According to the museum, the results of this analysis along with unreleased footage about the gem’s history and theft from part of the exhibition. It is crucial to note that naturally occurring pink diamonds are impossible to replace or damaged owing to their extreme rarity and often sell for tens of millions of dollars; moreover the exact origins of the Grand Conde remains a mystery.