Rare pink diamond goes on display in France 100 years after amateur heist

What the report says

A rare pink diamond known as the Grand Condé is going back on public display in France, nearly a century after it was stolen from the Château de Chantilly and later recovered in an unusual way. According to BBC World News, the nine-carat pear-shaped gem was taken during an overnight burglary in October 1926 and hidden inside a hollowed-out apple. It was found weeks later after a maid at the thieves’ hotel bit into the fruit.

The diamond, which is among the few royal jewels said to have survived the French Revolution, is now being shown at the Condé Museum at the Château de Chantilly, north of Paris, until 3 January. The museum said the exhibition includes newly studied material on the stone’s properties, along with archive documents about its history and theft.

Museum director Mathieu Deldicque noted that the apple story has long been part of the gem’s lore and was reported at the time. He also acknowledged concern about displaying valuable objects amid a recent series of museum and cultural-site thefts in Europe, including a high-profile jewellery robbery at the Louvre in Paris. The diamond’s exact origins remain unclear, but it appears in 18th-century records and later became part of the collection now held by the Institut de France. Beyond the specific exhibition, the report highlights the continued value and vulnerability of famous jewels, as well as the strong public interest in their history.