Napoleon Bonaparte’s lost brooch fetches $4.4 million at Sotheby’s auction

It was one of the most anticipated auctions of the autumn season. The Royal & Noble Jewels by Sotheby’s, which held its third edition this Wednesday, November 12, has already become a firmly established event for luxury collectors. Each year, they gather in the city of Geneva to bid on jewels of great historical interest — pieces that for centuries belonged to noble and royal houses throughout Europe and, in many cases, had been kept in private collections until their owners decided to sell them.

In 2025, after the 2024 acquisition of a rare and historic 18th-century diamond necklace of 300 carats for $4.8 million, Sotheby’s had prepared another irresistible treat: a brooch belonging to Napoleon Bonaparte. The jewel sold at auction for $4,380,534.

The piece, which came to auction with an estimated price of between €130,000 ($151,000) and €216,000 ($250,000), had once adorned the French emperor’s bicorne hat on special occasions. It was, however, lost during his flight from the Battle of Waterloo, when he was already besieged by British and Prussian forces and his carriages — filled with treasures — became mired in the mud near the battlefield. The circular brooch, 45 millimeters in diameter, features a large 13.04-carat oval diamond at its center, surrounded by nearly 100 diamonds of various shapes and sizes arranged in two concentric rows. It ended up as a war trophy for the Prussian King Frederick William III. In any case, Napoleon would no longer have needed it on the island of Saint Helena, where the British sent him into exile.

In an intense auction lasting just under 10 minutes, four telephone bidders, one online, and another present in the Swiss auction room competed for the so-called hat button, which ultimately reached 30 times its minimum estimate. Its new owner is a distinguished international collector, whose identity Sotheby’s has not disclosed.

Another Napoleonic jewel that stood out in the auction was a 132.66-carat green beryl with an opening estimate of between €34,000 ($35,000) and €51,000 ($59,000). The emperor had worn it during his coronation in 1804. It was acquired by a U.S. museum that bid online, paying an astonishing $1,041,044 — more than 25 times its minimum estimate.

One of the most anticipated pieces at Sotheby’s auction was the pink diamond ring that once belonged to Empress Catherine I of Russia and later became part of the private collection of the last Ottoman princess, Fatma Neslisah (who passed away aged 91 in 2012). The ring sold for twelve times its minimum estimate, fetching a final price of $3,622,914.

This latest Royal & Noble Jewels auction, the only one of its kind in the world, marks Sotheby’s third consecutive “white glove” sale — a term used in the auction world for events where every lot sells, and at the end of the session, the auctioneer is presented with a pair of white gloves as a symbol of success. In this edition, the house achieved a total of $14,328,947, the highest value ever reached by a Royal & Noble sale since it became a regular fixture on Sotheby’s annual auction calendar in 2023.

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