Overview
- The jewels were moved from Vienna’s Hofburg to Switzerland after 1918 and taken to Quebec in 1940 during the family’s flight from the Nazis.
- The cache includes the 137-carat Florentiner diamond, a diamond-set Order of the Golden Fleece, and pieces linked to Empress Elisabeth, Maria Theresa, and Marie-Antoinette.
- An appraisal by Christoph Köchert of A. E. Köchert for the New York Times supports the Florentiner’s authenticity based on weight, cut, and fit to its historical setting.
- Empress Zita instructed heirs to keep the hoard secret for at least 100 years after Emperor Karl I’s 1922 death, and Karl Habsburg says he learned of it only last year.
- The family says the collection is distinct from Austria’s state-held crown jewels and that arrangements for public display in Canada are now being developed.