Historic Diamonds / Famous Diamonds
The Fascinating History of The Dresden Green Diamond
With its rare natural color, royal legacy, and miraculous evasion from one of history’s most daring jewel heists, the Dresden Green Diamond remains one of the world’s most extraordinary and resilient natural treasures.
August 8, 2025
Written by: Grant Mobley
There are few diamonds in the world that have captivated me the way the Dresden Green Diamond has. With its striking natural color, its royal provenance, and its incredible resilience through centuries of upheaval, it’s a gemstone that represents not only nature’s artistry but also the endurance of cultural heritage. And in November 2019, it narrowly escaped becoming the centerpiece of one of the most audacious jewel heists in modern history.
That morning, as masked thieves shattered reinforced glass cases in Dresden’s famed Green Vault and made off with over $130 million in priceless diamonds and artifacts, I stood across the Atlantic at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City—staring directly at the Dresden Green Diamond, on loan for a special exhibition. The irony wasn’t lost on me: the very object of my admiration, the crown jewel of the Green Vault, had sidestepped disaster by a twist of fate. And that moment only deepened my fascination with this 41-carat marvel.
Meet the Expert
- Grant Mobley is the Jewelry & Watch Editor of Only Natural Diamonds.
- He is a GIA Diamonds Graduate.
- He has over 17 years of jewelry industry experience, starting with growing up in his family’s retail jewelry stores.
Why the Dresden Green Diamond Is Unlike Any Other
The Dresden Green Diamond, often called the Dresden Green, is the world’s most famous natural green diamond—and one of the rarest diamonds of any color. The 41-carat stone boasts a natural apple-green hue from exposure to natural radiation. It falls into the rare Type IIa category—a designation that identifies the most chemically pure diamonds, which make up only 1–2% of all diamonds.
The Gemological Institute of America determined its clarity grade as VS1 in 1988 and noted its exceptionally well-preserved polish and symmetry—remarkable feats given that artisans cut the stone before 1741. It likely weighed over 100 carats in its rough form and, unusually for green diamonds, appears to have been an elongated, unbroken rough crystal.
The Royal Beginnings of the Dresden Green Diamond
The Dresden Green’s known history dates back to at least 1722, when a London newspaper first reported on it. The diamond was reportedly offered to Frederick Augustus I of Saxony, but it was his son, Frederick Augustus II, who ultimately acquired it from a Dutch merchant at the Leipzig Fair in 1741. Though historians debate the exact price, one letter to Frederick the Great of Prussia cites a cost of 400,000 thalers. It explains that the King of Poland couldn’t provide artillery for the siege of Brünn because he had just purchased a large green diamond.
In the 1740s, Frederick Augustus II commissioned the court jeweler Dinglinger to set the Dresden Green in the Decoration of the Golden Fleece, though that design lasted just four years. In 1768, jeweler Diessbach finally set the diamond in its current form, a hat clasp, adorned with large white brilliant cut diamonds and over 400 smaller diamonds. That opulent setting has survived nearly unchanged to this day.
The Dresden Green Diamond’s Home: The Green Vault Museum
The Green Vault, or Grünes Gewölbe, was established in 1723 by Augustus the Strong, Elector of Saxony and King of Poland, as a treasury to showcase the wealth and artistic achievements of his reign. Housed within the Residenzschloss (Dresden Castle), the museum is considered one of the oldest public museums in the world. It officially opened its doors to the public in 1724, offering an unprecedented glimpse into royal splendor.
The Dresden Green Diamond was added to the Green Vault’s collection in the mid-18th century after its acquisition by Frederick Augustus II in 1741. Since then, it has remained one of the museum’s most prized possessions, displayed for most of the last two centuries in a setting designed to evoke awe. The Green Vault’s long-standing tradition of public display and dedication to preserving royal treasures has made it a symbol of cultural heritage in Europe.
How the Dresden Green Diamond Survived War and Exile
Over the centuries, the Dresden Green and the rest of the Green Vault’s treasures endured wars, regime changes, and even occupation. During the Seven Years’ War, officials hid the diamond at Königstein Fortress. In World War II, they once again protected it by removing the royal jewels just before the devastating Allied bombing of Dresden in 1945. Later that year, Soviet forces seized the collection and transported it to Moscow. It wasn’t until 1958 that the contents of the Green Vault, including the Dresden Green, were repatriated to Germany.
In 2000, thanks to Ronald Winston, the son of famed jeweler Harry Winston, the diamond was exhibited at the Smithsonian Institution, displayed beside the equally legendary Hope Diamond. And in 2019, the Dresden Green made another transatlantic journey—this time to New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art, where I would have the privilege of seeing it in person for the first time.
The Dresden Green Diamond Narrowly Evaded A Heist That Shook the Jewelry World
Back in Dresden, on November 25, 2019, the unimaginable happened. In a plot seemingly lifted from a movie script, a group of thieves disabled security systems, started an electrical fire to knock out street lights, and entered the Green Vault through a meticulously prepared window. Armed with axes, they smashed their way into display cases and escaped with treasures including the 49-carat Dresden White Diamond, a diamond-covered sword, and an 18th-century hat clasp.
Thanks to sheer luck, or fate, the Dresden Green Diamond was safe in New York. Still, the heist devastated the jewelry community. These pieces weren’t just valuable, they were irreplaceable symbols of centuries of craftsmanship, royalty, and cultural legacy.
German authorities responded with determination. In what became known as Operation Epaulette, they tracked down members of the Remmo Clan, a notorious organized crime family. After years of investigation, authorities convicted five men in 2023. By that time, investigators had miraculously recovered many of the stolen jewels—damaged but not destroyed. In August 2024, the museum reinstated the returned pieces in the Green Vault and implemented much tighter security measures.
The Dresden Green Diamond Is an Enduring Treasure
When I visited Dresden in 2023, the stolen items had not yet returned. But the Dresden Green Diamond, ever the survivor, had come home. As I stood in the New Green Vault once again, admiring the same apple-green brilliance I had seen in New York, I couldn’t help but marvel at its journey.
From the mines of India to European royal courts, through wars, thefts, and exhibitions, the Dresden Green has endured. It represents not just geological rarity but human history—surviving not by chance, but by reverence. For me, it remains the most extraordinary natural diamond I’ve ever seen.
