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Tuesday 21 March 2023

The Ashberg

The Ashberg diamond, formerly owned by the Russian crown, is a cushion shaped, amber diamond weighing 102.48 carats.

The stone is said to have been discovered in South Africa and resold by the Russian commercial delegation, in 1934, to Ashberg, a Swedish banker, who had it cut by the Bolin company, former Crown Jewelers to the Court of St. Petersburg. The Ashberg was set in a richly decorated necklace and exhibited at the Amsterdam International Exposition in 1949, in the hope that new diamond artisans would be attracted to the city. The diamond then changed hands several times. It was last heard of in 1981, when it was put up for auction at Christie's but then withdrawn, as its reserve price was not reached.