France displays the Grand Condé diamond
Rare pink diamond goes on display in France 100 years after amateur heist
Saturday, 17 October 2026
Photo by Zoshua Colah on Unsplash
Warm-up
- What famous museum or castle would you like to visit?
- Have you ever seen a gemstone or jewel on display?
- Why do some objects need strong security in museums?
Vocabulary
- heist
- a planned theft, usually of valuable objects
- exhibition
- a public show of objects in a museum or gallery
- inventory
- a written list of items owned by a person or place
- bequeath
- to leave something to someone in a will
- recover
- to get back something that was lost or stolen
- conceal
- to hide something so people cannot see it
- identifiable
- possible to recognise as a specific, unique object
- insure
- to protect something with insurance in case it is lost or damaged
Reading
Listen to this story
British EnglishA rare pink diamond known as the Grand Condé is being shown in France for the first time since it was stolen in 1926. The nine-carat, pear-shaped gem was taken in an overnight heist at the Château de Chantilly and later concealed in a hollowed-out apple. It was recovered weeks later when a hotel maid bit the fruit. The diamond, one of the few royal jewels to survive the French Revolution, is on exhibition at the Condé Museum at Chantilly until 3 January.
Museum director Mathieu Deldicque said the apple story sounded unlikely but was widely reported in newspapers at the time. He declined to say how much the gem is insured for, but noted that study has made the stone uniquely identifiable. The show also includes archive material about its history and theft.
The gem's exact origin is unknown. It appeared in a 1740 inventory of Louis Henri de Bourbon, Prince of Condé, later passed to Queen Marie-Amélie, and was bequeathed by Prince Henri of Orléans to the Institut de France, which owns the château 50km north of Paris. Naturally occurring pink diamonds have fetched up to $71.2m at auction.
Comprehension
- Where is the Grand Condé currently on exhibition?
- How was the diamond hidden after the 1926 heist?
- Who is the museum director mentioned in the story?
- What makes the diamond uniquely identifiable, according to the museum?
- Who bequeathed the diamond to the Institut de France?
Grammar focus
Future perfect continuous
We use will have been + verb-ing to show an action in progress up to a specific future point. Signals: by + future time; for + a period; since + a starting point. (Examples constructed.)
- By 3 January, visitors will have been lining up for weeks.
- By 3 January, staff will have been preparing the display for days.
Grammar exercise
Complete with the future perfect continuous form of the verb.
- By the final day, visitors (queue) ___ for hours.
- By the closing day, staff (monitor) ___ the gem for weeks.
- By the show's end, curators (explain) ___ its history for weeks.
- By 3 January, security (check) ___ bags since opening day.
- By 3 January, reporters (write) ___ about the apple story for days.
Discussion
- What security steps should museums take for rare jewels?
- Does a dramatic backstory make an exhibition more attractive? Why?
- Should museums reveal insurance values for famous objects?
- Which detail of this story will visitors remember most, and why?
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