Napoleon’s Waterloo brooch sells for more than 3.5 million Swiss francs
A diamond brooch that Emperor Napoleon is believed to have abandoned while fleeing the Battle of Waterloo sold for more than 3.5 million Swiss francs (roughly $4.4 million) at a Sotheby's auction in Geneva on Wednesday. The piece, which can also be worn as a pendant, is centered on an oval diamond weighing in excess of 13 carats and is surrounded by numerous smaller cut diamonds.
Sotheby's said the jewel was part of a collection of personal effects Napoleon took with him to Waterloo, including medals, weapons, silverware, a hat and a jewellery box containing dozens of loose diamonds and other items. According to the auction house, "in his haste to flee Waterloo, where his armies had been overwhelmed by the combined British and Prussian forces, Napoleon had to abandon some carriages that became stuck in muddy roads a few miles from the battlefield — including the carriage holding those valuable items."
Price details: The brooch's hammer price was 2.85 million Swiss francs; fees and additional charges brought the final aggregate to just over 3.5 million francs (about $4.4 million). The sale far exceeded the pre-auction high estimate of 200,000 francs. Sotheby's identified the buyer only as a "private collector" and did not name the seller.
The auction catalogue notes that the brooch and several accompanying pieces were presented to Prussian King Friedrich Wilhelm III as battle trophies three days after Waterloo in 1815. The jewel remained among the heirlooms of the Prussian Royal House of Hohenzollern for centuries before moving into a private collection in recent years.
Also on the block was a striking green beryl weighing more than 132 carats — a stone Napoleon was said to have worn at his 1804 coronation — which sold for a hammer price of 838,000 francs, more than 17 times its high-end pre-sale estimate.
"Given the recent Louvre heist and the provenance of arguably the most famous French figure in history, I'm not surprised the jewel achieved a majestic 3.5 million francs," said Tobias Kormind, managing director of online jeweler 77 Diamonds, referring to last month's daylight robbery at the Louvre in Paris that targeted Napoleonic jewels.
This sale underscores how strong provenance tied to iconic historical figures can dramatically increase a piece's value and how recent events — like high-profile thefts — can heighten public and collector interest in related objects.
