Vienna Past and Present

The Florentine Diamond: Lost, Found, and Packed in Cardboard


Listen Later

The Florentine Diamond is one of Europe's most famous missing jewels—or at least, it was. In this episode, we trace the extraordinary journey of a 137-carat diamond from Renaissance Florence and the Medici dynasty to the Habsburgs, the collapse of empire, and a century-long disappearance that turns out not to have been a disappearance at all.

Along the way, we meet Empress Zita, who doesn't just have one of the best Habsburg names, but also ran one of the tightest ships in imperial history—successfully keeping a world-class secret for over 100 years. Carmen and Stephen also question the wisdom of transporting priceless crown jewels across the Atlantic in a cardboard suitcase, and are scandalized at the purported price of the diamond.

For more, check us out on social media at viennapastandpresent or at viennapastandpresent.com. Reach out to us at [email protected]. We love hearing feedback and ideas. Danke!

...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

Vienna Past and PresentBy Carmen and Stephen

  • 4.3
  • 4.3
  • 4.3
  • 4.3
  • 4.3

4.3

10 ratings


More shows like Vienna Past and Present

View all
In Our Time by BBC Radio 4

In Our Time

5,525 Listeners