The Diamond as Big as des Bergues.
Erik Post
Two desks and four security guards flank the lectern in the middle of the podium. The lectern’s wooden front reads CHRISTIES and faces an ostentatious ballroom with 208 chairs in French Rococo style. An eclectic crowd fills the room. The atmosphere is tense yet convivial; one can sense unrest and expectation heavy in the air. All around, people are greeting one another, counting familiar faces, and occasionally whisper duplicitously in the hope of scheming to share bids. While I wait for Christie’s Magnificent Jewels fall 2017 auction in Geneva Switzerland to begin, I am reminded of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s A Diamond as Big as the Ritz.
During the exuberant roaring twenties, Fitzgerald wrote a novella about a solid diamond the size of mountain, which rendered its owner the richest man in the world. The illustrious family that owns the diamond-filled mountain goes through great lengths to keep it secret and hidden. The family pretends the civil war was won by the South to maintain its slaves and bribes the government to never survey its land and falsify official maps, which do not show the mountain nor their palace. They even shoot down aviators that happen to fly over, maintain a dungeon for prisoners and kill anyone who enters estate, including their own guests. The inconveniences are worth the fortune the family derives from slowly mining the mountain. Using the value of the diamond present a unique challenge since it can only be sold a little at a time in order to avoid flooding the market. Fitzgerald aptly tells a story that shows that the valuation of “a diamond bigger than the Ritz-Carlton Hotel” is nigh impossible and downright paradoxical.
At the cusp of another potential roaring twenties decade, the auction offers two truly exceptional lots. On offer is the largest flawless diamond ever to enter an auction. Fitzgerald’s lesson about valuation echoes. As the auctioneer of the evening, Rahul Kadika, explains afterwards, there is no knowing what the value of this diamond is, “there are no other stones of this kind … this was in a class of its own.”1 Although not literally as big as the Hotel des Bergues, the venue of the auction, determining the value of this gigantic stone is nigh impossible, even for the most seasoned jewelry auctioneers.
Alongside this spectacular gem was another offer that further illustrates the arcane nature of what constitutes value. The infamous Grand Mazara diamond is second to none, described by Christie’s as “one of France’s most storied gems,”2 or as the equivalent of “discovering a painting by Leonardo Da Vinci.”3 The jewel is unique not only because of its size, cut, and color, but more importantly because of its history. The story of this stone, as lavishly illustrated in 46 pages of the auction catalogue,4 begins in 17th century India, where the diamond was cut in the Golconda mines. It became the property of Cardinal Mazara, the first minister of France, who bequeathed it upon his death in 1661 to none other than King Louis XIV, the Sun King himself. It became part of the French crown jewels for the following 250 years, gracing the crowns of four kings, four queens, two emperors, and two empresses, including the Emperor Napoleon and the last French Empress Eugenie.5 The auction house’s chairman for Europe and Asia, Francois Curiel, described it as “the diamond with the most prestigious and historic provenance still to be in private hands.”6 Its prestige and concomitant value derive from the fact that it “bears unique witness to French history.”7
The opening of the bid at 4,000,000 Swiss Francs was met by a deep silence in the room. Within minutes, a flurry of bidding drove the bid to 10,000,000 Francs. Many in the room gasped for air, yet remained silent. Initially some people in the room had partaken in bidding, but now it had turned into a three-way standoff between anonymous telephone bidders. The room watched the auctioneer contort his body in the directions of the representatives bidding for the anonymous telephone bidders. As the bid kept climbing, I felt like a spectator to an invisible three-way tennis match. At 11,500,000 Francs only two bidders remained. The tension could be clearly felt as the auctioneer let it build up to its zenith before bringing down his hammer at 12,500,000 Francs, double Christie’s initial valuation.8 A crescendo of applause erupted.
I turned to my neighbor on the left, a Qatari pearl dealer who had been profusely sweating while mechanically chewing gum throughout the auction. He smiled and with a loud sniffle concluded, “I guess this is the price of history.” When I asked what he meant, he explained, “This is only for collectors, here, at home [in Qatar] nobody knows … for me, it (the stone) has no value.”
On my right, I turned to an American investment banker, who had only come to enjoy the spectacle and support his bidding friends. I asked him whether this creation of value he had just witnessed was more or less ephemeral than what he experienced in his day to day job. In response, he grinned widely and retorted “well, whose value and what valuation are we talking about?” He paused, “this this, is pure speculation. I wish this was how my field worked.”
How does one put a figure on history? How does one measure the economic value of ‘the largest flawless diamond ever to go on auction’? The final price of Le Grand Mazarin amounted to 14,375,000 Swiss Francs.9 At the end of the auction, the total sales of the day’s proceedings stood at 105,422,500 Swiss Francs.10 I am not sure what that precisely means. Is that value equivalent to 8.43 or 7.33 Grand Mazarins? It seems that Fitzgerald’s insights into the paradoxical and occult practice of valuation remain as relevant as ever.
Notes:
1. Reybaud, Fabien, L’extraordinaire diamant Le Grand Mazarin s’envole à Genève, Le Figaro, 15 November 2017, http://www.lefigaro.fr/culture/encheres/2017/11/14/03016-20171114ARTFIG00374-l-extraordinaire-diamant-le-grand-mazarin-s-envole-a-geneve.php.
2. Christie’s, Diamond in the Crown, 18 October 2017, http://www.christies.com/features/Le-Grand-Mazarin-Diamond-in-the-Crown-8625-3.aspx.
3. Lunel, Jean-Marc, Video for Christie’s available at http://www.christies.com/features/Le-Grand-Mazarin-Diamond-in-the-Crown-8625-3.aspx.
4. Christie’s, Magnificent Jewels 14 November 2017, Geneva Catalogue, (Christie’s : Geneva, 2017), pp. 266-312.
5. Christie’s, Diamond in the Crown, 18 October 2017
6. Diamond of Louis XIV, Le Grand Mazarin, sells for $14.6 million, DeutscheWelle, 15 November 2017, http://www.dw.com/en/diamond-of-louis-xiv-le-grand-mazarin-sells-for-146-million/a-41378177
7. Reybaud, Fabien, L’extraordinaire diamant Le Grand Mazarin s’envole à Genève, Le Figaro, 15 November 2017
8. Eeuwenoude diamant voor miljoenen verkocht in Zwitserland, Nu.nl, 15 November 2017, https://www.nu.nl/buitenland/5007539/eeuwenoude-diamant-miljoenen-verkocht-in-zwitserland.html.
9. Christie’s, Lot 600 “Le Grand Mazarin an Historic Coloured Diamond”, http://www.christies.com/Lotfinder/lot_details.aspx?hdnSaleID=27110&LN=600&intsaleid=27110&sid=3686cfa3-97de-4720-a467-215372cc4bd2
10. Christie’s, Magnificent Jewels, http://www.christies.com/magnificent-jewels-27110.aspx?saletitle=
