The legendary 137 Carat Diamond Appears After 100 Years...Austria's push to return
Nov 07, 2025
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The Austrian Habsburg family's 'Florence Diamond', which once dominated European hegemony, was recently dramatically discovered in a Canadian bank vault.
According to foreign media such as the New York Times and the Daily Mail, the 137-carat diamond was owned by the Austrian imperial Habsburg family and was one of the jewels that Austria's Emperor Charles I fled to Switzerland in 1918, at the end of World War I. After Charles died on the Portuguese island of Madeira, Empress Zita and her children fled to the United States to escape Nazi threats through Spain and Belgium, and later settled in Quebec, Canada.
Empress Zita brought the jewels to Canada in a small paper box at the time, and later died in 1989 at the age of 96, keeping them in a bank safe.
In the meantime, the diamond was asleep in a safe without even being known to the world.
The public assumed that the jewelry may have been lost or stolen.
Karl von Habsburg-Lotringen, the grandson of the Emperor Karl, said "Grandma wanted the jewels to be kept safe and was deeply aware of their historical value" he said.
The authenticity of the diamond was confirmed by Christophe Kohert, who was in charge of the Austrian imperial jeweler.
He said "The cut pattern of the diamond is almost consistent with that shown in historical data, and it has also been demonstrated by electronic testing to be authentic."
The jewelry was originally owned by the Medici family in Florence, Italy, and was transferred to the Habsburg family through the marriage of Franz Stephen and Maria Theresia, the granddaughter of Austria, in the 18th century.
The Habsburgs would like to display the jewelry in Canada to thank the country for protecting them.
However, the Austrian government said it would immediately review whether the diamond was owned by the state, with Deputy Prime Minister Andreas Babler "If it is officially identified as Austrian property, we will begin the process of returning it." he insisted.
This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
