The Grand Condé was hidden inside a hollowed-out apple after a 1926 theft.
TBS Report
18 October, 2026, 01:30 am
Last modified: 18 October, 2026, 01:44 am
A rare nine-carat pink diamond stolen from a French château nearly 100 years ago is going on public display again, with its extraordinary theft and recovery forming the centrepiece of a new exhibition.
Known as the Grand Condé, the pear-shaped gemstone was stolen during an overnight raid on the Château de Chantilly in October 1926. The thieves concealed it inside a hollowed-out apple, reports the BBC.
The diamond was recovered several weeks later after a hungry maid at the hotel where the thieves were staying bit into the apple.
The gemstone, one of the few royal jewels to survive the French Revolution, will be displayed at the Condé Museum inside the Château de Chantilly until 3 January.
Museum director Mathieu Deldicque said the story of the diamond's recovery might sound far-fetched, but newspapers widely reported it at the time.
Exhibition revisits century-old heist
The exhibition comes amid questions about security at European cultural institutions following a series of high-profile thefts over the past year, including a daring daytime robbery of jewellery from the Louvre in Paris.
Deldicque declined to tell CNN how much the Grand Condé was insured for, but said extensive academic research had been conducted to identify the diamond through its distinctive properties.
The exhibition features the findings of that research alongside previously unseen archival material documenting the gemstone's history and theft, according to the museum.
Naturally occurring pink diamonds are exceptionally rare and can fetch tens of millions of dollars. The highest price paid for a pink diamond at auction was $71.2 million (£53.6 million) in 2017, according to Sotheby's.
Diamond's origins remain a mystery
The exact origins of the Grand Condé remain unknown.
The gemstone was first mentioned in 1740 in an inventory of Louis Henri de Bourbon, Prince of Condé, drawn up after his death, the Château de Chantilly said.
It later became part of the collection of Queen Marie-Amélie of Bourbon-Sicily, wife of French King Louis Philippe I, and subsequently belonged to their son, Prince Henri of Orléans, the Duke of Aumale.
The duke bequeathed the diamond to the Institut de France, which now owns the Château de Chantilly, located about 50km (31 miles) north of Paris, along with thousands of artworks and manuscripts that form the Musée Condé collection.