Diamond jewellery stolen in 1851

Hello!

I am looking for someone familiar with mid-19th century diamond jewellery. I have descriptions of a set of jewels that was stolen in England in 1851. I am not trying to solve a crime (the jewels were recovered later), nor to find the exact pieces (they probably don't exist anymore). What I want are insights into what kind of jewellery was involved, and maybe images of pieces from the right time period, to get an idea of what the originals may have looked like. My knowledge about jewellery in general is rudimentary at best.

The objects in question were to be sent from London to Alexandria, but I don't know if they were originally made in England. They were stolen in London, then taken to Liverpool, from where the thief (unsuccessfully) tried to escape to America. As for the total value, £450 in 1851 would be roughly £80,000 in 2023 (a little over $100,000), but I don't know if diamonds would have been considered as valuable then as they are now, so the pieces would possibly be worth a lot more than £80,000 today.

Below are the descriptions I have, from newspaper accounts and witness testimonies. In some instances, the reports are inconsistent or appear to be wrong. In those cases, I add what I think are the correct numbers in square brackets.

• The property stolen consists of a necklace, forming two bracelets, a pair of earrings, a brooch, and centre piece of a necklace, also forming a brooch, with drops – value £450.
• The value of the diamonds, according to the London papers, is estimated at £4,500 [£450?].
• a diamond bracelet, value £100, a diamond stomacher, value £130, two diamond bracelets, value £160 [£60?], and two diamond ear-rings, value £160 [£60?], diamonds to the total value of some £450.
• two large diamond brooches, the centre-piece, a brooch of a diamond stomacher, and a pair of diamond bracelets. Prisoner told me he had taken off the pendants or drops from the centre ornament, and had taken the stones out and sold them [...] five carats of diamonds, for £25.
• Having very little money left, I proceeded to sell the diamond drops as soon as I landed again in Liverpool. I only got £3 [£5?] per carat, so I did not sell more than sufficient to meet my urgent necessities, as I intended making restitution of the whole of the property at a future time.
  
• I afterwards found, on searching the prisoner's pocket-book, a duplicate or memorandum of a pair of brilliant earrings, deposited at [a pawnbroker] for £40. Prisoner said these earrings, together with the pendants he broke off the centre-piece, and the other articles produced, formed the complete suite of diamonds. The other portions of the pendants, consisting of the settings, were obtained by another officer.
• The property produced, consisting of two bracelets, brooches, stomacher brooch, ear-rings, etc., is worth £450 at the wholesale value, as charged in the invoice. The pendants have been taken off the centre piece and the diamonds taken out. I can identity the settings as my property, but the loose diamonds I can only presume belong to me.

Thanks for your help!
Rene_R

 

Yours is an interesting project. So... They were stolen in 1851. Do contemporary accounts give any idea as to when they were made? Can we assume they were early-Victorian (1839-1851) and not earlier? Period portraits are helpful for getting an idea of (fashionable) jewelry worn in that period. Here's a young Queen Victoria, for instance.

Debora

 

Thanks!

Unfortunately, I don't know more about the objects than what's given in my original post. In particular, I know neither when they were made, nor where; just that they belonged to a diamond merchant from London, who intended to sell them to Egypt.

One detail that could be important: The thief was German, and gave the earrings to a pawnbroker, telling him he had just arrived in England (a lie). I suppose the jewellery can't have looked like something that was obviously brand new and produced in England, otherwise the pawnbroker may not have believed him?

They could have been Victorian; or imports from Europe. I don't get the impression that they were very old.

If it helps to narrow it down, let's assume (for the moment) that they were indeed early Victorian.

 

Is there any information on who they were stolen from? That might provide clues as to how fashionable the settings may have been.

 

Yes. They were the property of a pair of Hungarian diamond merchants (Jews, if that matters), who had their office at 8 Broad Street Buildings, London (now the location of Liverpool Street Station). The thief was their clerk, who had entered the transaction in their book, and who was present when the package was sealed. He later took them out of their strong room, resealed the package, and fled from London.

The business partnership of his employers had only been established the year before, and it ended just a few months after the robbery, due to debts by one of them. Whether that's relevant, I'm not sure.

 

So, the settings may or may not have been contemporary. Hard to tell.

Here are some resources that may be helpful in your reconstructions:

https://www.langantiques.com/university/a-history-of-diamond-cutting/

https://levysfinejewelry.com/pages/victorian-jewelry-and-fashion

https://www.gemsociety.org/article/victorian-period-jewelry-1837-1860/
The gem society has articles on other eras, as well -
https://www.gemsociety.org/jewelry-lapidary/antique-and-jewelry-history/

You can also try googling a time period + diamond jewelry to find dealers who carry specific objects.

https://www.sophiejanejewels.com/collections/victorian-jewelry

https://www.wilsonsestatejewelry.co...a5kQOJ9hhv8BzoteCeniHX9heoPZSTRgaAttGEALw_wcB

 

Thank you!

 

The descriptions of jewelry makes pieces sound like diamond-delivery vehicles. No other stones, no pearls. There were only about 60,000 people in Alexandria in the mid-1800s. Who would have been the market? The customer?

Debora

 

Do you have the business name? Some people here are very good at tracing business histories and advertisements, which might provide more insight.
@Figtree3?

 

The entry in the merchants' account book is quoted by the newspapers as: Monte Corbello, Alexandria, by the Oriental Steam Navigation Company. From the warehouse, taken by the Oriental Steam Navigation Company, parcel containing jewellery

What is a "diamond-delivery vehicle"? Jewellery that is created for the sole purpose of transporting diamonds from A to B?

Schwabacher, Birnstingl & Co., 8 Broad Street Buildings, City
Compare https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Schwabacher-5, https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Birnstingl-2.

For the background of the thief, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Thonen (I am one of the authors, Daniel Bamberger, of the "Ballarat Link" paper cited there).

 

Perhaps there is a Jewish connection. Reconstruction of the Eliyahu Hanavi Synagogue in Alexandria began in 1850. (The previous synagogue had been destroyed upon orders of Napoleon.)

Debora

 

Interesting! The merchants were probably Jewish.

 

"Diamond-delivery vehicle" my own term but, yes, that's what I meant. Might have been needed depending on export/import tariffs at the time.

Debora

 

The diamond trade is traditional Jewish. But the firm Schwabacher, Birnstingl & Co. is described everywhere as "diamond merchants" and I see old newspaper clippings regarding the theft of "a parcel of diamonds." They wouldn't have created jewelry.

Debora

 

Got it, thanks.

 

The most detailed newspaper account is “Singular Case of Diamond Stealing”, in: Morning Chronicle, 10 May 1851, page 7. https://search.findmypast.co.uk/bna/viewarticle?id=bl/0000082/18510510/017

 

The above site requires registration.

Debora

 

Birnstingl and Schwabacher described themselves as "Merchants and Commissioning Agents." Curiously, they dissolved their partnership in October 1851.

Debora

 

Yes, unfortunately. Most of the quotes in my original post are from that article. I hope (I think) I've added all the useful information it gives.

 

Birnstingl appears to have had debts, leading to the end of the partnership. He declared bankruptcy in 1856. Schwabacher later moved to France, where he continued to work as a diamond merchant.

The March 1851 census lists Birnstingl as a "coral merchant"; all other documents I know describe him as a diamond merchant.