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Christies: The Chrysler diamond Posted by Janet on May 15, 2021, 4:46 am Christies have announced they are auctioning the 54 carat Chrysler diamond in June. https://www.christies.com/lot/lot-the-chrysler-diamonda-magnificent-diamond-pendant-necklace-6321797/?from=salesummary&intObjectID=6321797&lid=1&ldp_breadcrumb=back I had never heard of this diamond before but the Lot Essay on the website is very interesting: "In 1958, Harry Winston purchased what was then known as The Louis XIV Diamond from the estate of Thelma Chrysler Foy. Although the provenance cannot be verified, it was considered that this diamond was possibly mined in India and could have been brought to France by the famed gem merchant Jean-Baptiste Tavernier. Winston recut the diamond from its original 62.00 carats to 58.60 carats to achieve a D color and Flawless clarity grade. The diamond, now mounted in a tiara, was exhibited at the Musée du Louvre in 1962 in the Ten Centuries of French Jewelry exhibition." The implication is that the diamond was associated with the Sun King in some way, which I anticipate if more evidence can be produced to evidence this will inflate its value significantly. A tiara with a 58 carat diamond is something I would like to see! The Ten Centuries of French Jewelry exhibition in 1962 sounds fascinating! I wish more was known about it. I did a search but couldn't find anything. Hopefully as the auction day approaches more history regarding this diamond may become known. I am going to commit sacrilege and say I am not a fan of many of the designs of Harry Wilson, who seemed more focus on flashy designs rather than creating truly beautiful designs that you associate with Cartier, Chaumet and Boucheron.

Re: Christies: The Chrysler diamond Posted by Andrew U on May 15, 2021, 7:04 am, in reply to "Christies: The Chrysler diamond" I would love to have seen this in the tiara! Previous Message Christies have announced they are auctioning the 54 carat Chrysler diamond in June. https://www.christies.com/lot/lot-the-chrysler-diamonda-magnificent-diamond-pendant-necklace-6321797/?from=salesummary&intObjectID=6321797&lid=1&ldp_breadcrumb=back I had never heard of this diamond before but the Lot Essay on the website is very interesting: "In 1958, Harry Winston purchased what was then known as The Louis XIV Diamond from the estate of Thelma Chrysler Foy. Although the provenance cannot be verified, it was considered that this diamond was possibly mined in India and could have been brought to France by the famed gem merchant Jean-Baptiste Tavernier. Winston recut the diamond from its original 62.00 carats to 58.60 carats to achieve a D color and Flawless clarity grade. The diamond, now mounted in a tiara, was exhibited at the Musée du Louvre in 1962 in the Ten Centuries of French Jewelry exhibition." The implication is that the diamond was associated with the Sun King in some way, which I anticipate if more evidence can be produced to evidence this will inflate its value significantly. A tiara with a 58 carat diamond is something I would like to see! The Ten Centuries of French Jewelry exhibition in 1962 sounds fascinating! I wish more was known about it. I did a search but couldn't find anything. Hopefully as the auction day approaches more history regarding this diamond may become known. I am going to commit sacrilege and say I am not a fan of many of the designs of Harry Wilson, who seemed more focus on flashy designs rather than creating truly beautiful designs that you associate with Cartier, Chaumet and Boucheron.

Re: Christies: The Chrysler diamond Posted by Dave on May 16, 2021, 1:47 am, in reply to "Christies: The Chrysler diamond" Queen Mary was know to have had fitted the Cullinan 3&4 into her tiara at the Indian Durbar, very large diamonds and I believe she also fitted the heart shaped stone also from the Cullinan into a tiara. Thanks for posting Janet. Apart from QM, the Middle Eastern monarchies also seem to dawn large pieces in their head wear, and the former Imperial Czar family of Russia had very large colored stones in their head pieces as well. Regards, Dave. Previous Message Christies have announced they are auctioning the 54 carat Chrysler diamond in June. https://www.christies.com/lot/lot-the-chrysler-diamonda-magnificent-diamond-pendant-necklace-6321797/?from=salesummary&intObjectID=6321797&lid=1&ldp_breadcrumb=back I had never heard of this diamond before but the Lot Essay on the website is very interesting: "In 1958, Harry Winston purchased what was then known as The Louis XIV Diamond from the estate of Thelma Chrysler Foy. Although the provenance cannot be verified, it was considered that this diamond was possibly mined in India and could have been brought to France by the famed gem merchant Jean-Baptiste Tavernier. Winston recut the diamond from its original 62.00 carats to 58.60 carats to achieve a D color and Flawless clarity grade. The diamond, now mounted in a tiara, was exhibited at the Musée du Louvre in 1962 in the Ten Centuries of French Jewelry exhibition." The implication is that the diamond was associated with the Sun King in some way, which I anticipate if more evidence can be produced to evidence this will inflate its value significantly. A tiara with a 58 carat diamond is something I would like to see! The Ten Centuries of French Jewelry exhibition in 1962 sounds fascinating! I wish more was known about it. I did a search but couldn't find anything. Hopefully as the auction day approaches more history regarding this diamond may become known. I am going to commit sacrilege and say I am not a fan of many of the designs of Harry Wilson, who seemed more focus on flashy designs rather than creating truly beautiful designs that you associate with Cartier, Chaumet and Boucheron.

Re: Christies: The Chrysler diamond Posted by Beth on May 16, 2021, 9:18 am, in reply to "Re: Christies: The Chrysler diamond" Finding images of the 1962 exhibition at the Louvre seems to be a major challenge. As far as I know no one has yet found any, but I live in hope. The UK press appears to have been silent on this diamond. I couldn't find anything under either of the names. Like Janet, I am hoping that Christie's will provide more historical information.

Re: Christies: The Chrysler diamond Posted by Rafael on May 17, 2021, 9:19 am, in reply to "Re: Christies: The Chrysler diamond" The tiara is featured in the Book "Harry Winston: The Ultimate Jeweler" by Laurence Krashes. Here is a picture from the book:

Re: Christies: The Chrysler diamond Posted by Beth on May 17, 2021, 4:40 pm, in reply to "Re: Christies: The Chrysler diamond" Congratulations on your find Rafael!! Sadly I could not see the image on any of my devices, no matter what I tried. I think this link will show the tiara (if readers click through the images until a tiara with a large pear shaped diamond shows up) Link https://antiquarianauctions.com/lots/harry-winston-the-ultimate-jeweler The tiara matches the description of the jewel listed against "The Louis XIV" in this Wikipedia article. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Winston Rafael could you verify that I identified the correct item, please? Otherwise I will be seriously misleading people.

Re: Christies: The Chrysler diamond Posted by Tiara Mania on May 19, 2021, 1:12 am, in reply to "Re: Christies: The Chrysler diamond" I found a picture of Thelma Chrysler Foy wearing a very large diamond on her necklace but the shape is completely different from the pictures of the current Chrysler diamond. She also has a large diamond ring. The diamond has been cut twice since it was owned by Foy taking it from 62 to 54.03 carats. I don't know enough about diamond weights to know whether 8 carats could account for the differences in the diamonds.

Thank you, I prefer the original Posted by Janet on May 19, 2021, 4:30 am, in reply to "Re: Christies: The Chrysler diamond" which is very imposing, before Harry Winston cut it into what is now a very generic cut. Previous Message I found a picture of Thelma Chrysler Foy wearing a very large diamond on her necklace but the shape is completely different from the pictures of the current Chrysler diamond. She also has a large diamond ring. The diamond has been cut twice since it was owned by Foy taking it from 62 to 54.03 carats. I don't know enough about diamond weights to know whether 8 carats could account for the differences in the diamonds.

Re: Thank you, I prefer the original Posted by Beth on May 19, 2021, 7:03 pm, in reply to "Thank you, I prefer the original" What an interesting find Tiara Mania! I suspect that the large diamond in the necklace must be the original diamond named the Louis XIV diamond, as it is unlikely that Thelma Foy had 2 very large diamonds. But perhaps a person of her wealth did have 2 such diamonds!

Re: Christies: The Chrysler diamond Posted by Rafael on May 19, 2021, 12:31 pm, in reply to "Re: Christies: The Chrysler diamond" To bad the image didn't work, but that's it Beth! In my version of the book it's an actual photo of the tiara rather than a rendering, but it is the exact same piece. I will try to upload again.

Re: Christies: The Chrysler diamond Posted by Beth on May 19, 2021, 6:56 pm, in reply to "Re: Christies: The Chrysler diamond" Thank you so much Rafael. A photo of the actual jewel conveys the impression much more clearly.

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