The most important section of the Topkapi Palace, the Treasury lies in the third courtyard. And one of the most important items of the Treasury is in the fourth room. It is the breathtaking Spoonmaker’s Diamond: an 86-carat diamond surrounded by 49 smaller diamonds.

There are stories and rumours about the diamond, some very similar. To sum up, it is believed that the diamond was once owned by the Maharajah of Madras, and sold to a French guy called Pigot. Then it was stolen, and nobody knows how it ended up in Casanova’s hands.

Now there are two different versions: It was either Napoleon’s mother who bought it in an auction, or the mother of King Louis 16th. And it was either sold by Napoleon’s mother to support her son, or given as a present by the King’s mother to the Egyptian rulers when King Louis 16th was sent to exile. Eventually it ended up in Ottoman hands. The name comes from the story that the diamond was found by a poor guy in garbage, and was sold to a jeweller in exchange for three wooden spoons.