Replica of the famous Florentine Diamond displayed at the “Reich der Kristalle” museum in Munich
According to some theories, the Florentine Diamond, which seemed to have disappeared at the end of World War I, would have been stolen, cut into smaller stones or simply lost to history. It traveled around the world, passed through Madeira, and was ultimately kept secret, by the will of an empress.
For decades, the Florentinoa 137-carat yellow diamond belonging to the powerful Habsburg familywas a source of intrigue and speculation, and was thought to be lost forever.
The famous gemstone was actually safely stored in a vault in Canada.
The empress Zitha of Bourbon-Peed She wanted the location of the jewel to be kept secret for 100 years after the death of her husband, Charles I, in 1922. Her descendants now plan to display it in a museum, says .
Some people theorized that the pear-shaped gem, which appeared to have disappeared at the end of World War Iwould have been stolen, cut into smaller stones or simply lost to history. Now, however, the elusive stone has reappeared.
According to , members of the Habsburg family recently approached some journalists, to whom they revealed for the first time that the diamond has been stored safely in a safe from a Canadian bank.
The Habsburgs hope to put the Florentine Diamond and other family jewels on display in a museum in the future, as a way of thanking Canada for having welcomed the family during World War II.
“Florentino should be part of the collection of a fund here in Canada,” he stated Charles of Habsburg-Lorraineone of the family members who revealed the gem’s location to the Times. “It should be shown in Canada every now and then so people can actually see these pieces.”
Meanwhile, Austrian authorities are now investigating whether the iconic gem legally belongs to the State.
The Florentine Diamond owes its name to the fact that, before passing into the hands of the Habsburgs in 1736, it had belonged to the Medicithe Italian family that ruled Florence for three centuries.
The gem will have disappeared around 1919when Charles I, emperor of Austria-Hungary, fled with his family to Switzerlandin the context of the collapse of the Habsburg Empire at the end of World War I. THE murder of your uncleArchduke Francisco Fernando, in 1914, was one of the factors that triggered the conflict.
Carlos also took measures to protect family jewelswhich he took to Switzerland. But from then on, the history of gemstones, including the Florentine Diamond, remained shrouded in mystery. Many assumed it was unlikely the diamond would ever be seen in public again.
From Switzerland, the family moved to the island of Madeirawhere Carlos died of pneumonia in 1922. After his death, his wife, Empress Zita of Bourbon-Parma, and their children moved to Spain and then to Belgium.
During World War II, Zita and her children fled to the United Statesbefore settling in Quebec, Canada.
“I like Canada,” the empress once told a journalist. “I like Quebec. I have a lot of appreciation for French Canadians. They were kind and attentive towards us and, cold as Quebec winters are, they remind me of winters in Austria. I have no plans to leave.”
According to the Times, Zita brought the jewelry in a small cardboard suitcasewhich he ended up placing in a safe in Quebec. He later returned to Europe, but chose to leave the jewelry in Canada. Died in 1989, aged 96.
Zita asked the family to kept the location of the diamond a secret for at least a century after her husband’s death. For years, only two people knew where it was: the couple’s children, Robert and Rodolphewho in turn, revealed the secret to their children before they died.
“I have the feeling that she was very pleased because some important family objects were something she herself had safeguarded,” Habsburg-Lothringen told the Times. “It was historically very important to herbecause I always thought in historical terms.”
Everyone kept silent to protect the gem. Habsburg-Lothringen himself only recently learned of the location through his cousins, Lorenz von Habsburg-Lothringen (son of Robert) and Simeon von Habsburg-Lothringen (son of Rodolphe).
“The fewer people knowthe greater the security will be,” he told the Times, which describes Diamante Florentine as “still sparkling and impressive”, even after having been wrapped in yellowed paper inside a worn suitcase in the safe for decades.
