Marie Antoinette’s pink diamond goes up for auction

A rare 10.38-carat purple-pink diamond, believed to have been owned by Marie Antoinette, Queen of France, is going up for auction soon.

The kite-shaped diamond, known as the Marie-Thérèse Pink Diamond, is estimated to go between $3,000,000 and $5,000,000.

According to lore, Marie Antoinette entrusted her jewels to her coiffeur on the eve of the failed escape from Paris in 1791. They never made it back to her, but the diamond was eventually passed to her only surviving child, Marie Thérèse, Duchess of Angoulême.

A few generations later, the next owner was identified as Maria Theresa of Austria-Este, Queen of Bavaria. She referred to it as “a pink solitaire diamond from Aunt Chambord.”

It was last at auction in 1996 when it was offered by a member of a European royal family. It has remained out of the public eye for 30 years.

It has now been set into a ring by the Parisian jeweller Joel Arthur Rosenthal (JAR).

The ring will go up for auction as part of the Magnificent Jewels auction by Christie’s, taking place on 17 June at Rockefeller Center in New York City.