A pink diamond that thieves stole from the Château de Chantilly in 1926 by hiding it inside an apple is set to go on display. The nine-carat Grand Condé once belonged to French royalty, the BBC reports. The pink diamond is one of the rare royal jewels to have survived the French Revolution.
The remarkable gemstone was recovered just a few weeks after the theft. According to a popular story, the thieves hid it inside an apple, but a maid bit into the fruit, exposing their crime. The diamond remained out of public view for a century, but it is now being exhibited at the Musée Condé, located inside the Château de Chantilly. According to the museum’s director, however, the story involving the apple has proved to be untrue, although newspapers at the time extensively covered the incident.
When the exhibition was announced, several people asked whether the director feared that someone might steal the diamond again, following a series of art thefts over the past year. The diamond will be on display until January 3 next year. In response, the director said that extensive investigations had been carried out ahead of the exhibition to ensure that the diamond could be easily identified if anyone stole it and attempted to sell it.
Natural pink diamonds are extremely rare and typically sell for tens of millions of dollars. The exact origins of the Grand Condé remain unknown. The first written record of the gemstone dates back to 1740, following the death of Louis Henri de Bourbon, Prince of Condé.
