Beau Sancy Diamond to Go on Block

choi

JS Marcus, From Prussia, With Love: Selling a royal diamond; Object of Desire: The Beau Sancy diamond. Wall Street Journal, Mar 24, 2012
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB ... 93533271462476.html
(Like many fabled European diamonds, including Hope and Koh-I-Noor, it is believed to be of Indian origin")

Note:
(a)
(i) Beau Sancy. Antique Jewelry University, undated.
http://www.langantiques.com/university/index.php/Beau_Sancy
("This diamond's name is taken from its first recorded French owner, Nicolas Harlay de Sancy, a fancier of fine gems who just happened to be King Henri IV’s exceptionally talented Minister of Finance. With de Sancy’s name already attached to another larger diamond in his possession the adjective “beau” was added to identify this smaller stone")
(ii) list of diamonds
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_diamonds
(cut weight (carat): Beau Sancy 34; Sancy 55.23)
(iii) The French adjective beau (which can be a masculine noun also) means handsome/beautiful, nice, good.
(iv) Sancy
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sancy
(pale yellow; "The Sancy's known history began circa 1570 in Constantinople when purchased by Nicolas de Harlay, seigneur de Sancy. He was popular in the French Court and was later French Ambassador to Turkey. Something of a gem connoisseur, de Sancy used his knowledge to prosperous advantage")

(b) House of Hohenzollern
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_of_Hohenzollern
("It originated in the area around the town of Hechingen in Swabia during the 11th century. They took their name from their ancestral home, the Burg Hohenzollern castle near Hechingen"; headed Kingdom of Prussia and German Empire)
(i) For Preussen, see Preußen
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Preu%C3%9Fen
(Preußen is the German word for Prussia)
(ii) The "prinz" is German for prince.

(c) Wilhelm II, German Emperor
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilhelm_II,_German_Emperor
(1859-1941; the last German Emperor (Kaiser) and King of Prussia (1888-1918))
(d) The article mentions "the last German crown prince, Wilhelm (1852-1951)." There is a typo: 1882, not 1852.

William, German Crown Prince
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William,_German_Crown_Prince
(1882-1951)

Wilhelm is German for William.

(e)
(i) Hope Diamond
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hope_Diamond
(deep blue; now housed in the Smithsonian Natural History Museum in Washington, DC; "There was a report that the gemstone was bought by a wealthy London banker named Thomas Hope for either $65,000 or $90,000. After falling under the ownership of the Hope family, and remaining in its possession for more than half a century, it came to be known officially as the 'Hope Diamond'")
(ii) Koh-i-Noor
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koh-i-Noor
(means "Mountain of Light" in Persian; 105 carats; Current owner  The British Crown (part of the British Crown Jewels)

(f)
(i) Marie de' Medici
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marie_de%27_Medici
(1575-1642; born Italian, of House of Medici; second wife of King Henry IV of France; Following the assassination of her husband in 1610, which occurred the day after her coronation, she acted as regent for her son, King Louis XIII of France, until he came of age)
(ii) House of Medici
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_of_Medici
(founded the Medici Bank, the largest in Europe during the 15th century; the House produced four popes, two regent queens of France, and, in 1531, became hereditary duke of Florence; The origin of the name is uncertain, although Medici is the plural of medico, meaning, "medical doctor")

(g)
(i) House of Orange-Nassau
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_of_Orange-Nassau
(ii) William the Silent (1533-1584; prince of Orange 1544-1584)
(iii) Eighty Years' War, or Dutch War of Independence (1568-1648)

(h) The article finally states the diamond was passed on "to the collection of the queen of England before arriving in Prussia in 1702."

(i) Consult (a)(i) above.
(ii) Mary II of England
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_II_of_England
(1662-1694; reign 1689-1694; William and Mary, both Protestants, became king and queen regnant, respectively, following the Glorious Revolution, which resulted in the deposition of her Roman Catholic father, James II and VII. William became sole ruler upon her death in 1694)

Her husband was "a sovereign Prince of Orange of the House of Orange-Nassau by birth."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_III_of_England
(iii) Kingdom of Prussia started in 1701.