Historic Archduke Joseph diamond may reach up to $25 million

The Archduke Joseph diamond, one of the world's most famous and rarest gems from Europe's aristocracy, is expected to reach up to $25 million when it goes under Christie’s hammer on Tuesday.

The 76.02-carat, unmounted, cushion-shaped white diamond, which used to belong to the Archduke Joseph of Austria (1872-1962), is the top lot at Christie's sale in Geneva, Switzerland, on Nov. 13.

The precious rock is the largest historically recorded perfect Golconda diamond, senior jewellery specialist Jean-Marc Lune told Telegraph TV.

It vanished for decades after eluding the notice of the Nazis during the Second World War, before reappearing in 1961 at a London auction.

The ancient India’s Golconda mines have been the source of the world's most coveted historical diamonds, including the Kohinoor, in the Royal Collection at the Tower of London, and the Regent, considered the finest diamond in the French Crown Jewels.

The last time this rock went on sale was in November 1993, reaching $6.5 million in the same city. The diamond has since been sold privately yet Christie's has refused to identify its present owner.