Fine Art and Collectibles September 2026

Starting price: € 100000.00

Unique gold and diamond encrusted World Chess Championship Trophy presented to Garry Kasparov after his legendary 1990 victory over Anatoly Karpov, the Korloff Trophy An exceptional museum-worthy Chess trophy, crafted using 1 kilogram of pure gold, set with a total of 1,022 black and white diamonds. Meticulously executed by the world famous Parisian Haute Joaillerie Maison Korloff. The prominent base features a bronze construction with a thick gold overlay and vibrant lacquer accents. Using a kilogram of pure gold, alloyed into 18-karat yellow gold appliques, 669 white and 353 black diamonds, Maison Korloff wonderfully enhanced the aesthetic of the trophy. The total count of the diamonds amount to an approximate total carat weight of 120 carats. Shaped into two mirrored ‘K’s’, Maison Korloff’s design exquisitely represents the clash between the legendary players Kasparov and Karpov. Accompanied by a letter from Maison Korloff stating the materials used. Presented in a custom fitted case. Measurements 24 x 27,5 x 11 cm, weight 6.5 kg. According to a legend recounted by Mark Crowter in The Week in Chess 59, dated 26 November 1995, Kasparov and Ilyumzhinov, sitting on the bed in a suite at the Savoy Hotel, counted the diamonds on the trophy over and over again, arriving after numerous careful attempts at a number of diamonds exceeding the official count of its own manufactures. According to the French jeweler, the trophy was supposed to be adorned with 1,018 diamonds. At Heritage, we were lucky to be able to undertake our own attempt on the not so easy task of correctly counting the black and white diamonds, and can undeniably confirm the story to be true, with the Korloff Trophy indeed being encrusted with exactly 1,022 precious stones. ‘A special gift from the jewellers to the World Champion’ – a witty remark of FIDE President Ilyumzhinov with one of the possible explanations of this peculiar case. Initially, all diamonds were white, but ultimately it was decided to use black diamonds to create more contrast in this impressive work of art. The use of the black diamonds simultaneously highlights the history of Korloff’s black diamond as well as the Maison itself. Their juxtaposition provides rich symbolical significance, representing several dualities such as Victory and Defeat; Joy and Disappointment; Love and Hate; The Wealth and Downfall experienced by each competitor. Each of the letters and segments on the trophy is marked with French hallmarks: 750 for 18-karat gold, the eagles head for 18-karat gold and the diamond shaped makers mark of Korloff. Like the Korloff Trophy itself, the significance of the 1990 World Chess Championship is much deeper and more multilayered than it may appear at first glance. During the second part of the match, held in Lyon, the coveted prize was displayed between the two players, directly behind the chess table. Behind the two rival luminaries of chess history, Anatoly Karpov and Garry Kasparov, stood not only two contrasting approaches to the game, but also two irreconcilable spirits and worldviews, as well as political convictions that could hardly have been further apart. Karpov, a member of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, embodied continuity, control, positional precision, and the classical authority of the Soviet chess school. Kasparov, already a prominent voice in Russia’s pro-democracy movement, by contrast, stood for dynamism, confrontation, preparation, and rupture. These dichotomies are likewise echoed in the visual language of the Korloff Trophy, whose mirrored K-forms stand back-to-back, leaning inseparably against one another. The fact that this World Championship was more than a sporting contest did not escape the international audience. Political questions accompanied the match from the very beginning, culminating in the matter of the flags chosen by the players. Kasparov refused to play under the Soviet flag, which he regarded as a symbol of oppression and tyranny. Instead, he identified himself with the white-blue-red Russian tricolour, a symbol that in 1990 was not yet the official flag of the Russian Federation, but could be clearly interpreted as an oppositional sign rooted in Russian history. At the chessboard, the conflict over symbols and leadership thus became inseparable from the conflict over the future itself. The 1990 World Chess Championship was also the fifth and final World Championship match between Karpov and Kasparov. It marked the end of an era. The match unfolded across two cities, with the first twelve games played in New York and the final twelve in Lyon. When the match moved to France, the score was still tied at 6–6. Only in Lyon did Kasparov begin to pull ahead, though he was still mentally exhausted and deeply disappointed by his own performance in New York. Even then, the outcome remained tense until the very end: Karpov won the twenty-third game, narrowing the gap before the final encounter. Kasparov secured the title only by drawing the twenty-fourth and last game, retaining the World Championship by the narrowest of margins, 12½–11½. Yet this final chapter of the Karpov–Kasparov era should not be reduced to the old East-West divide. Both players were shaped from a very young age by the chess school associated with Mikhail Botvinnik (1911–1995), the sixth World Champion and one of the central architects of Soviet chess culture. Botvinnik, the teacher and intellectual model for generations of outstanding Soviet chess players, held the World Championship title in three separate periods, for a total of almost fifteen years. To this day, he is regarded as the father of the Soviet school of chess. Karpov and Kasparov therefore came from one school, one system, one state. And this is precisely what makes their opposition so powerful: they were not simply representatives of two different worlds, but two different outcomes of the same world, facing each other on opposite sides of the black-and-white battlefield. In Lyon, under the gaze of the Korloff Trophy, their rivalry became a symbol of an epoch at the moment of its transformation. This magnificent piece of art and its widely ramified story, as quite superficially presented here, would not have been possible without another captivating historical background coming into play: the history of La Maison Korloff. At the dawn of La Maison Korloff stood a single black diamond, known today as the Korloff Noir. This diamond was found in Siberia in 1917 and is known to be the largest diamond of its time. Weighing 421 carats before cutting and polishing, this diamond was truly one of a kind. Diamonds this size are incredibly rare. Since it was first discovered, only a handful of comparable stones have been found to this day. Currently there are just six black diamonds of these extraordinary proportions known in the world. None of these stones come from the same region, which makes the one found in 1917 one of nature’s rarest treasures. According to legend, the diamond was even believed to bring prosperity and luck to all who touched it. Over the course of approximately eighteen months, the rough diamond was patiently cut and polished until it emerged as a breathtaking 88-carat jewel with 57 facets, bearing the name of its noble Russian owners, the Korloff-Sapojnikoff family. Residing in Saint Petersburg during Tsarist Russia, this influential family was forced to flee following the Russian Revolution, leaving the extraordinary diamond behind. Then in 1978 a diamond dealer stepped onto the path of Daniel Paillasseur, the founder of Korloff, and showed him this stone. It was at this moment that Paillasseur knew what he wanted, and that was to own it. During this year he founded the maison which marks the beginning of the luxury jewellery Korloff is known for. In 1988, after a decade of efforts to acquire the diamond, it finally became part of the Maison Korloff collection, with its current estimated insurance value reaching $37 million. During that same year, the Maison was awarded the Grand Prix of Bijorhca d’Or for its creative audacity. Following these achievements, the French jeweller developed two unique diamond cuts, known as the K73 and K88 cuts. Since its inception, La Maison Korloff has been renowned for pioneering the use of black diamonds in luxury jewellery, as well as for its bold, colorful designs and distinctive timepieces. It truly exemplifies what is possible in high-end jewellery craftsmanship. The Trophy comes with a certificate of authenticity, issued by the founder and president of Maison Korloff, Daniel Paillasseur, written in French with a certified translation into Russian. The document describes the creative concept behind the trophy and explicitly confirms that 666 white and 352 black diamonds (sic! the correct numbers are 669 and 353), 1 kg of gold and over 1,000 hours of labour were required to produce it. Additionally, a contract of sale dated 14 June 1991 is included in the lot. In it, Garry Kasparov confirms the sale to International Corporation SAN, represented by Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, who served as President of FIDE from 1995 to 2018. Through the charity auction, Kasparov sought to raise funds for Armenian refugees in Baku and victims of the ‘Black January’ massacre, who were murdered or driven from their homes earlier that year in the wake of nationalist uprisings. The buyer of “Kasparov’s crown”, Ilyumzhinov, donated ₽10 million to the fund. This provenance makes the trophy an extraordinary memento, also serving as a reminder of charitable initiatives during the final phase of the Soviet Union’s decline and collapse. Ultimately, we cannot emphasize enough what a rare opportunity this item presents for top-tier collectors of our time. Significant trophies and commemorative items from World Chess Championships very rarely come onto the public market. With its well-documented provenance, its majestic design executed in gold and diamonds, and its connection to the last legendary World Championship match between Kasparov and Karpov in Lyon in 1990, the Korloff Trophy is truly an outstanding, one-of-a-kind memento of modern chess history. Please note: Bidding on this lot requires an enhanced due diligence. Potential bidders are requested to contact Heritage Auctions Europe before the auction through info@ha-europe.com or +31(0)30-606-3944.