Second appraisal values jewels seized from Zapatero at 1,023,320 euros

A second appraisal below the first

Judge José Luis Calama of the Audiencia Nacional received a 138-page report from the Yanes jewelry firm, which values the pieces seized from the office of former prime minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero at 1,023,320 euros. The judge had requested the expert report in September, and the document reached the court on 27 October. The figure sits below the roughly 1.3 million euros given in the preliminary appraisal by Ansorena. The experts grouped the pieces into four lots, and the three lots of high-value jewelry together come to 938,500 euros according to the report.

Each of the three sets includes a necklace, earrings, a ring and a bracelet. The emerald and diamond set is valued at 373,100 euros, the red stone and diamond set at 203,000 euros and the sapphire and diamond set at 362,400 euros. The remaining pieces, which the experts call of little relevance, are valued at 84,820 euros. The report also says the red stones cannot be called rubies because they contain lead glass filling. Yanes stresses that the pieces came without original cases or quality documentation, and the firm writes:

Emerald and diamond set373,100

Sapphire and diamond set362,400

Red stone and diamond set203,000

Remaining pieces84,820

Emerald and diamond set

373100 euros

Sapphire and diamond set

362400 euros

Red stone and diamond set

203000 euros

Remaining pieces

84820 euros

Data from the article text

“It is incoherent that pieces of this value are not accompanied by their original cases for proper conservation and protection.”

Origin and manufacture date

Zapatero has said the jewelry sets were given to him by the then Saudi monarch during an official visit to Spain in June 2007, when he was prime minister, and that he did not know their material value. The experts consider Asian origin probable, pointing to India, Thailand, China or Central Asia, and regard the European Union, the United States and Arab countries as less likely because of their strict hallmarking rules. The diamonds are natural but their source cannot be determined, while the emeralds could be compatible with Zambia and the sapphires with Thailand. Because the gold has low nickel content, the report concludes the pieces were not made before the 2007 regulation that limited nickel, so they were made after June 2007. That timing does not fit the version Zapatero gave the court.

Court rulings and a separate tax probe

Zapatero asked Calama to send a letters rogatory to Saudi Arabia to verify the origin of the jewels, but the judge rejected the request in an order. Calama said the factual hypothesis behind the request lacked any minimum objective element of corroboration. The same order questioned Zapatero's version of events. Zapatero's defence also challenged Yanes for lack of impartiality, and the judge dismissed that challenge after the firm's executives had publicly said the valuation could reach 2 million euros. In a separate piece of the Plus Ultra case, Calama is investigating the former prime minister for alleged tax offence and smuggling linked to the jewels found in his office, and considers their origin unjustified. The articles do not say when the judge will rule on the valuation or on that inquiry.