46 Österreich: Leopold Orden - Großkreuz in Brillanten.
Gold and enamel. The crown, the medallion circlet and the cipher ‘ F I A’ of the medallion set with old-cut diamonds and brilliant-cut diamonds. The settings of the larger stones are worked ‘à jour’ on the back. The translucent red enamel of the arms of the cross and the crown lining with a finely guilloched background. The Austrian imperial crown (Rudolfine crown) on the back is made in three dimensions by a goldsmith.
The maker's mark ‘FR’ of the court jewellers Rothe in Vienna and the gold hallmark (3-dimensional head of a ram) for 18 carat and the standard hallmark ‘750’ can be seen in the eyelet.
The Grand Cross of the Imperial Austrian Order of Leopold in diamonds was awarded a total of 55 times. Of these, 27 were awarded to Austrians and 28 to foreigners.
All of the awards were made under Emperor Franz Joseph I (1848-1916) and Emperor Karl I (1916-1918).
The diamond decorations were made by various jewellers, principally the well-known K.u.K Hofjuweliere Rothe and Mayer's Söhne in Vienna.
Only a few examples of the diamond decoration have survived. Often the diamonds were sold by the heirs after the death of the recipient and replaced by similar stones.
Our piece has the complete original diamond setting and is therefore even rarer than pieces with exchanged stones.
An important order jewel of the finest jeweller quality and great charisma.
A rare opportunity to acquire one of the most beautiful and rarest order insignia of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy.
Literature: M.C. Ortner/ G. Ludwigstorff: Österreichs Orden und Ehrenzeichen, part I / volume 2,p. 20 and 37 ff.