Back
Automatically translated version. May contain inaccuracies compared to the original.
In the summer 1984, a bank manager called Christie’s with an unusual question. One of his clients wanted to sell a large blue diamond, which in size was compared to a pigeon’s egg. After inspection it became clear that before the experts lay a gem that the world of jewelry had not seen for almost seven decades.
The most famous of them sounds almost like a family legend: the jewel was allegedly given to the Bolsheviks for the release of Mykhailo Tereshchenko from prison. However, documents about the diamond itself provide a different chronology. And it significantly complicates this story.
How did one of the world’s largest blue diamonds end up with the Tereshchenkos?
Mykhailo Tereshchenko was born in Kyiv 1886 in year and belonged to one of the wealthiest Ukrainian entrepreneurial families of his time. The Tereshchenkos hailed from Hlukhiv in Sumy region. The base of their fortune was built in the sugar industry, but the family also owned land, enterprises, and financial assets. They spent substantial sums on charity: supporting hospitals, educational institutions, shelters, churches, museums, and art collections. By the early 20th century, Mykhailo had inherited a huge capital.
The Tereshchenko family / Screengrab from a post by Roman Timofeyev
His wealth was estimated at more than 60 million rubles. In 1917 year he joined the Provisional Government – first as Minister of Finance, and later as Foreign Minister. Around this period the famous blue stone appeared in Tereshchenko’s life. Its exact origin is unknown. The Mouawad jewelry house, to whom the diamond belongs today, does not name a reliable date of discovery or a specific mine. There is a supposition that the stone originated in India, but there is no confirmed history of its early owners.
Fuel
Average prices at Amic Energy gas stations as of
According to a family version later recounted by Mykhailo Tereshchenko’s grandson, Margaret Noe bought the diamond 1913 in Antwerp for his beloved Marguerite Noe – a Frenchwoman who became his first wife. Jewelry sources allow us to confidently trace the stone from the same 1913 year, but begin the story in Paris, notes Roman Timofeyev.
Then Mykhailo Tereshchenko left the large blue diamond at Cartier. In 1915 year he commissioned a necklace for it. The central stone weighing 42,92 carats was cut in a pear shape. Around Cartier he arranged another 46 diamonds of various sizes, shapes, and colors.
In the descriptions of the jewelry, round and pear-shaped stones, marquises, and heart-shaped diamonds are mentioned, and the palette included yellows, pinks, greens, blues, and other hues. Different sources do not unanimously place Tereschenko Blue among the largest blue diamonds.
Mouawad calls it the second after the famous Hope Diamond, weighing 45,52 carats. In Christie’s catalog it appeared as the fourth among the largest known fancy blue diamonds. Therefore it is more correct to speak of it as one of the largest blue diamonds in the world.
Did the stone really pay for Tereshchenko’s freedom?
After the Bolshevik coup in October 1917, Mykhailo Tereshchenko was arrested in the Winter Palace along with other members of the Provisional Government. He was imprisoned in the Peter and Paul Fortress. In spring 1918, Tereshchenko was released, after which he left the former empire.
The Tereshchenko Diamond / Screengrab from a post by Roman Timofeyev
Michel Tereshchenko said that Margaret Noe tried to secure the release of her husband and eventually allegedly made a deal with Trotsky. The price of freedom was supposed to be the large blue diamond. It was this version that gave rise to the story of the jewel that saved the life of the Ukrainian millionaire.
It has not been possible to confirm it documentarily. Moreover, the well-known story of the diamond itself contradicts such a development. According to Christie’s, the diamond left the Russian Empire as early as 1916 year. After that it passed to an unnamed private owner. The same chronology is given by Gem-A. If this information is correct, in 1918 year Margaret could no longer hand over this 42,92-carat stone to the Bolsheviks. This does not disprove the possibility of a purchase as such.
The family could have used other valuables or money, and over the years several events could have merged into one family story. However, today there are no documents linking Tereshchenko’s liberation specifically to the Tereschenko Blue.
Why did a French dancer appear in the stone’s history?
After 1916, the diamond’s trail nearly disappears. The next version of its fate appeared thanks to old newspapers. The jewelry historian and gemologist Jack Ogden drew attention to the French dancer Suzanne Marie Blanche Taillière, who performed under the name Mademoiselle Primrose.
For a time she lived in Saint Petersburg and knew people from the courtly milieu. Before the revolution Taillière left for France. In French press publications of the 1920-s years, the jewel she brought with her is mentioned – a large blue diamond weighing approximately 43 carats. The weight nearly matches Tereschenko Blue – 42,92 carats. According to newspaper reports, the dancer arrived in Nice in 1916 and soon pledged the stone. Later the diamond repeatedly figured in financial disputes.
In March 1925, the case reached the civil court in Nice, after which reliable references to this gemstone almost disappeared. The coincidence of dates and weights led Ogden to suggest that the Mademoiselle Primrose diamond could have been Tereschenko Blue. According to Christie’s, the Tereshchenko diamond was removed from the empire in 1916. In the same year a blue-diamond-dancing dancer appeared in France that was almost identical in weight. But there is no evidence that would allow placing an equal-sign between these two stones.
Newspaper reports of that time contain contradictions, so Ogden presents this story only as a possible episode in the Tereschenko Blue biography. Who owned the diamond after Tereshchenko and where exactly it remained in the following decades is unknown for sure.
Document: PDF proof of the original version of the news item "Діамант із Києва зник майже на 70 років: легенда каже, що ним заплатили за свободу Терещенка". It records the publication content at the moment of the first scan, the preservation date and the source: Channel 24.
