Florentine Diamond Reappears After 100 Years—See More of the World’s Most Famous Missing Gems, Lost (And Found)
The legendary Florentine Diamond re-emerges—plus, the lost and found stories of other iconic gems
There’s a certain allure surrounding diamonds lost to history, if not only for their beauty and value, for the mystery and intrigue their disappearance stirred up, which is exactly what happened with the infamous Florentine Diamond. The almost mythical diamond was a piece of the Habsburg dynasty and has been presumed missing for over 100 years since 1919. The diamond was thought to either have been recut, stolen or just lost to time. But now the diamond has re-emerged. Here, we look at the gem’s history, plus other famous missing jewels.
Where has the Florentine Diamond been?
The 137-carat diamond was long admired for its stunning yellow hue, its unique pear shape and storied history. Prior to being owned by the Habsburgs, the diamond was part of the Medici family, who ruled Florence.
Many assumed that once Charles I, a descendant of the Habsburg dynasty, left Vienna for Switzerland, the diamond went missing. But it was recently revealed that the diamond was never actually lost—it was simply stored away in a vault and kept secret by select family members.
What really happened was that the family fled to Canada during World War II, their jewels and the Florentine diamond stowed away in a bank vault where they remained ever since. The wife of Charles I, Empress Zita, kept its location a secret, telling only two of her sons, Robert and Rodolphe.
There was one rule that came with knowing its location, which is that it remained undisclosed for 100 years after the 1922 death of Charles I. The son of Robert, Lorenz von Habsburg-Lothringen, explained the reason for keeping its location a mystery.
“The less people know about it, the bigger the security,” he told The New York Times.
Now that it’s been over 100 years since the passing of Charles I, the family hopes to see it on display in Canada, for others to see its beauty.
Other legendary diamonds lost—or found—through history
Aside from the Florentine diamond, there have been many other illustrious stones that have either gone missing or been recut. See below other diamonds that have been stolen or just lost to history and whether they’ve been returned.
The Hope Diamond: from heist to the Smithsonian
What is now called the Hope Diamond was found in a mine in India and later sold to King Louis XIV of France in 1668, when it became one of the French Crown Jewels, called the French Blue. In 1792, the diamond was stolen and recut and later renamed the Hope Diamond.
Today, the Hope Diamond is set in a diamond necklace, now worth $250 million and resides in the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C.
The Dresden White Diamond: still missing after a daring heist
The Dresden White Diamond was mined in India and was acquired in 1728 by Augustus the Strong. The diamond was moved around to keep it safe and was later put on display in the Green Vault in Dresden, Germany.
In 2019, the diamond was stolen, along with many other valuable items, during a heist. Many of these were recovered a few years later in 2022 but the Dresden White Diamond was not one of them and is still missing today.
The Patiala Necklace: dismantled, discovered and partly restored
One of the most expensive diamond-filled pieces of jewelry was the Patiala Necklace, which had 2,930 diamonds. The necklace went missing in 1948 and was dismantled, many of the original diamonds removed. It was later found in 1982 and sold at an auction. Later, it was restored by Cartier, though many of the stones were replaced with synthetic diamonds.
The necklace is now in Cartier’s archive and was recently on display in their exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.
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