A spectacular diamond necklace with so much mystery and intrigue it practically warrants a dedicated podcast series was sold by Sotheby’s this week for $4.8 million Said necklace—which sold for more than twice its estimate after a seven-minute bidding battle between seven would-be buyers—is a triple strand wonder with 500 diamonds weighing over 300 carats It is believed to have been created around 1780-1800 There’s a chance that some of those diamonds were once part of a necklace that was the centerpiece of un énorme scandale a salacious soap opera complete with affairs That necklace was the Collier de La Reine. Jewelry aficionados will recognize the name, as was a whopping 2,800-carat design (incorporating approximately 650 diamonds) that jewelers Böhmer and Bassenge thought they sold to Marie Antoinette, who they also thought wasn’t sticking to the agreed-upon payment plan. But they’d sold it to a con artist and, in what came to be known as the “Affair of the Necklace,” the Queen The aforementioned con artist was caught and brought to justice but it is widely thought that this “affair” not only sullied Marie Antoinette’s reputation but was one in a series of events that led to her ultimate demise It is documented that diamonds from the Collier de La Reine were sold to Robert Gray and Sons But were they used to make this three-strand tasseled beauty headed to the auction block But there is intriguing circumstantial evidence to support the theory hail from the legendary Golconda mines in India (these mines stopped producing in the early 1800s) and must’ve been gathered for a specific purpose as no jeweler was likely to have that large quantity languishing about no one other than royalty would’ve been able to afford them the seventh Marquess of Anglesey wore the necklace to the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II “The extraordinary results of today’s sale represent Sotheby’s Royal and Noble Jewels sales at their apex,” says Andres White Correal these sales demonstrate the lasting power of provenance They also show the power of the Sotheby’s Worldwide Jewelry team the only one dedicated to enshrining the legacy of these important collections A Tsar’s Treasure provided an intimate glimpse into one of Central Europe’s most important royal families and one of the greatest jewelry collectors of the 19th and 20th centuries.” © 2023 Hudson One Media, LLC. 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Sign up for The Court Jeweller Newsletter The Court Jeweller Sparkling Royal Jewels From Around the World 09.25.2024 by // Leave a Comment Sotheby’s announced this week that they’ll soon be auctioning off a remarkable diamond necklace from the Georgian period–and they’ve hinted that there are possible connections to the doomed French queen and the famous Affair of the Diamond Necklace Sotheby’s sent out a press release announcing that they will be offering a magnificent 18th-century diamond necklace for sale in an auction in Geneva on November 11 Sotheby’s has unveiled an extraordinary piece of jewellery history emerging miraculously intact from an important private Asian collection: a rare and highly important 18th century diamond jewel weighing approximately 300 carats,” they revealed “making its first public appearance in fifty years This spectacular antique jewel is an incredible survivor of history and its debut at auction is a once in a lifetime event.” They date the creation of the diamond necklace which drapes around the wearer’s neck and culminates in a pair of diamond tassels to the decade before the French Revolution of 1789 The press materials provide a detailed description of the unique necklace: “This late 18th century jewel is a technically stunning piece of jewellery composed of three rows of diamonds finished with a diamond tassel at each end Jewels of this era were characterised by their opulence and versatility of use: one piece could be worn as a necklace or sewn onto a piece of clothing as an ornament In this case the jewel–also referred to as ‘négligé’–can be worn around the neck with the tassels hanging or tied in a simple knot.” Above a photograph provided by the auction house demonstrates the knotted setting of the piece The diamonds set in the necklace are all stones that would have been available to a prominent jeweler in 18th-century France “All diamonds in the jewel are in an old mine brilliant cut weighing between one and one and half carats each,” the press release explains “They are likely to have been sourced from the legendary Golconda mines in India Golconda diamonds were the first in the world to be discovered in the 4th century BC and although the mines became extinct nearly 200 years ago Golconda diamonds are still considered to this day as the purest and most dazzling diamonds ever mined.” Those who know their diamond necklace history may already have clocked visual similarities between the necklace being auctioned by Sotheby’s and another very famous necklace made during the same period: the necklace that caused a scandal at the French royal court A reproduction of that famed necklace is pictured above Sotheby’s offers a muted connection between the two pieces: “It is thought that some of the diamonds featured in this jewel may have come from the famous necklace linked to what became the scandal of the ‘Affair of the Necklace’ which contributed to the advent of the French revolution and eventually Marie-Antoinette’s death.” What’s the deal with that famous diamond necklace The answer is that the necklace wasn’t ever actually owned by the French queen It was made by the Parisian jewelry firm of Boehmer & Bassenge in the 1770s The necklace was extremely expensive to make but the jewelers were not able to secure payment from the monarch Louis XV died while the jewelers were still working on the piece and Madame du Barry was banished from court Boehmer and Bassenge were stuck with the necklace which was so grand that only someone with the wealth of a king could afford to buy it from them Scrambling to recoup the enormous investment that they’d made in the piece Jeanne apparently resolved to find a way to acquire the necklace herself and sell the diamonds to pad her own pockets who was seeking to enhance his own position at court as a dupe to try to get Marie Antoinette to buy the jewel She had letters forged from the Queen to the Cardinal in which “Marie Antoinette” told him that she wanted him to act as a secret intermediary to purchase the necklace for her The Cardinal dutifully negotiated the purchase of the necklace and delivered it to Jeanne believing that it would be passed on to Marie Antoinette and the diamonds were apparently sold on the black market Boehmer and Bassenge fully believed that they had really sold the necklace to the Queen but when they spoke to Marie Antoinette about the matter she was completely in the dark about the entire affair but Jeanne was convicted for her part in the affair as was the forger who had helped her with the fake correspondence Though Marie Antoinette herself was never implicated in the matter many people in France continued to believe that she had indeed been involved Her public image and popularity took a huge hit why exactly do the sellers of this necklace and the experts at Sotheby’s believe that it may include diamonds that were once part of that infamous French jewel “This rare and highly important diamond jewel was likely created in the decade preceding the French Revolution Though its precise origin story is not recorded such an important and historic antique jewel could only have been created for royalty or a high-ranking aristocrat at one of the glittering courts of the ancient régime–most [likely] the French or English court.” We do know that the necklace was indeed worn at the British royal court more than a century after its initial creation the necklace was acquired by the Paget family courtiers who held the title of Marquess of Anglesey Wellington’s second-in-command at Waterloo The great-grandson of the famed military 1st Marquess Henry Cyril was a theatrical and flamboyant man who loved wearing costumes and expensive jewelry His lifestyle was so extravagant that he went bankrupt in 1904 just six years after inheriting the title and the wealth that came with it and many (but not all) of his jewels were sold to pay his debts When Henry Cyril died in Monte Carlo in 1905 the Anglesey marquessate was inherited by his first cousin We know that the necklace was in the possession of the 6th marquess Newspaper articles at the time reported on the wedding gifts including a “large case” that contained the gifts from the groom to the bride consisting of a necklace and tiara of diamonds and a superb collarette of diamonds with long tasseled ends.” That “superb collarette” is the necklace now being sold at Sotheby’s At the time of the coronation of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth in 1937 Marjorie posed for a glamorous portrait photograph that shows her wearing those family heirloom diamond jewels which is worn with a supplemental sparkling headband piece which is draped casually around the neck of the marchioness who became the new Marchioness of Anglesey Shirley wore the family diamond tiara and tassel necklace at the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953 you’ll spot the tassel of the necklace peeking out between Shirley’s hands The present Marquess of Anglesey is Charles Alexander Vaughan Paget He inherited the title after the death of his father in 2013 and his mother passed away four years later in 2017 the Pagets have made the decision to part with some of the grand family diamonds was offered for sale at the European Fine Art Fair in Maastricht in 2020 the necklace is also being offered for sale It actually left the Paget family collection more than half a century ago They parted with the necklace in the 1960s it’s owned by a private collector in Asia Sotheby’s will be exhibiting the necklace in showrooms around the globe ahead of the sale and from there the necklace will be jetting off to Hong Kong ahead of the auction in Geneva on November 11 the Chairman of Jewellery Europe and Middle East and Head of Noble Jewels for Sotheby’s is enthusiastic about the jewel’s exceptionalism and its subsequent ability to bring in big bucks at auction: “This rare and important diamond jewel is a sublime survivor from the opulent court life of the Georgian era defined by its unrivalled pomp and splendour; it is arguably one of the most magnificent and intact Georgian jewels in private hands When compared to other surviving Imperial and Royal jewels from the same period this necklace stands head and shoulders above these examples; it is a fortune in diamonds and also a masterclass in exquisite design workmanship and technical innovation for the period and appealing today as when it was made over two centuries ago It is the ne plus ultra of 18th century jewellery design.” Sotheby’s has set a sky-high auction estimate for the necklace expecting between 1,600,000-2,400,000 Swiss francs (or $1,800,000-2,800,000 USD) when the hammer falls in November We’ll be tracking developments on this piece in the coming weeks Categories // auction Enter your name and email address below to subscribe to our weekly newsletter Sign up for my new subscriber-supported community, Hidden Gems, delivered directly to you each Saturday! Copyright © 2025 THE COURT JEWELLER LLC Belgium’s winter markets offer some dramatic twists on the classic German version… Please note: These Christmas markets may be affected by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic We will update this page when we have further information Where else to begin but in Brussels’ Grand Place coloured lights gloss over its gilded facades while music bellows from speakers in hourly evening shows – all as a nativity scene food stalls and the occasional choir vie for attention below in what is the Belgian capital’s centrepiece the festival spreads out across the historic centre with the annual return of the ice rink big wheel and some 200 market stalls to its stately squares and Neoclassical boulevards Christmas cheer runs from: 29 November 2019 to 5 January 2020 More information:Visit Brussels Bruges Markt Square lit up for Christmas (Shutterstock) Bruges is every bit the medieval fairytale and never more compelling than when its Gothic bravado peers out from under a thin dusting of snow but its artisanal markets are at least spread over two spots with the most popular being the food and craft stalls hunched below the auspices of its Belfort in Markt where horse-drawn carriages are always ready to whisk you round the cobbles with a glass of mulled wine in hand Green concerns have put paid to its annual ice sculpture festival but you can always follow the illuminated trails to the eco-friendly ice rink in Minnewater Park if you want to escape the souvenir hunters Christmas cheer runs from: 22 November to 5 January 2020 More information:Visit Bruges Ghent is a little like Bruges but without the hard sell its medieval heart has barely changed in 600 years under the Gothic leer of its stately cathedral and church some 150 craft and food chalets line the historic centre with only the twinkling ferris wheel to remind you that the reign of the Habsburgs is long gone Look out especially for the eye-catching open City Pavilion Christmas cheer runs from: 6 December 2019 to 5 January 2020 More information:Visit Ghent Liège City Hall lit up at Christmas time (Shutterstock) But if you want something a little more offbeat head 24km north to Bassenge and its nearby 2,000-year-old limestone cave network Having doubled as a bomb shelter in World War II but for a few days a year it becomes the setting for a magical Christmas Craft Market Some 75 stalls squeeze into two echoing caverns Christmas cheer runs from: 13 to 15 December 2019 More information:Wallonia Tourism Winter in the Park (Visit Oostende/Nick Decombel) but the seaside city of Ostend offers a rather different take on a Flanders winter If the biting wind and the sight of snow on the beach isn’t enough to chill your bones skating on the vast frozen pond of Leopold Park will lardons and potatoes) and a stroll around its 50 food and craft stalls or take a selfie under the ‘lights canopy’ on Adolf Buylstraat shopping street you can even join the New Year’s Dive (on 4 January) as thousands of local plunge into the chilly North Sea for ‘fun’ More information:Visit Oostende Sign up to our newsletter for free with the Wanderlust Club either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content Lupin is Netflix's hit new show riding high in the global Netflix charts but its roots come from much older source material The central plot of Season 1 sees Assane (Omar Sy) trying to steal a necklace that once belonged to Marie Antoinette the character gets the idea from a book that was read to him as a child—a real book that was written in the early 20th century the fifth story in the classic French book Leblanc describes the history of the necklace: "It was the legendary necklace that Bohmer and Bassenge had made for Madame Du Barry; the veritable necklace that the Cardinal de Rohan-Soubise intended to give to Marie-Antoinette Queen of France." When a character wears it it is described thus: "The thousand facets of the diamond sparkled and shone like flames of fire about her shapely neck and shoulders and it is safe to say that none but she could have borne the weight of such an ornament with so much ease and grace." the necklace is in the possession of a wealthy family only bringing it out for balls and very special occasions giving the show a visually stunning location for the heist to take place in this story details exactly how the necklace was stolen something that gives Assane the inspiration for his own crime a family friend who has fallen on hard times and who the family looks down upon and has employed as a chambermaid a conspiracy emerges that saw Assane's father blamed for stealing a necklace it is then revealed that it was not Henriette who stole the necklace but her very young son who commits his first theft—a crime that eventually leads to him becoming Arsène Lupin and he too is out for revenge for a humiliated family member—though in a meta twist Assane gets revenge through recreating a crime detailed in his father's favorite book Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground Newsletters in your inbox See all This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks The action you just performed triggered the security solution There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page The page you are looking for might have been removed 09.24.2021 by // Leave a Comment major royal jewelry news broke in Switzerland: Christie’s will soon offer a pair of incredible diamond bracelets for sale that belonged to none other than Marie Antoinette We’ve got all the details today on the history of the pieces and the upcoming auction in Geneva Royal jewelry historian Vincent Meylan helped the staff at Christie’s establish the provenance of the bracelets Meylan sourced records from the papers of King Louis XVI of France proving that Marie Antoinette purchased a pair of diamond bracelets in 1776 for the sum of 250,000 livres The enormous price was paid “partly in gemstones from the Queen’s collection and partly with funds the Queen received from King Louis XVI.” According to Meylan Marie Antoinette purchased the bracelets from Charles Auguste Böhmer a German-born jeweler better known as half of Böhmer et Bassenge many of you may recognize Böhmer et Bassenge from the most famous jewelry scandal of the 18th century they were commissioned by the king to create a grand diamond necklace for his necklace The jewelers were already in the midst of the expensive process of constructing the necklace and they tried to recoup their investment by selling the necklace to King Louis XVI in 1778 two years after Marie Antoinette had bought the diamond bracelets Marie Antoinette wasn’t interested in the necklace turning down more than one opportunity to secure it convinced the jewelers that she was a confidant of the Queen convincing them that the Queen wanted to buy the necklace using Jeanne as her secret intermediary and when Charles Auguste Böhmer approached the Queen to try to secure payment having had no clue about any part of the scheme Though the Queen really had no role in the “Affair of the Diamond Necklace,” the resulting fallout caused a major scandal that significantly damaged the royal family’s reputation helping to lead to the downfall of the entire monarchy with three larger diamonds in the center of each piece The bracelets have bar-shaped clasps set with five additional diamonds The elegant setting of the pieces is timeless Marie Antoinette made the decision to send her jewelry out of the country She sent a chest of jewels to the Count of Mercy-Argenteau an Austrian diplomat who had been a powerful figure at the French court for many years until Marie Antoinette’s execution in Paris in 1793 ordered that the chest should be opened in Belgium and the contents inventoried Among the pieces in the chest were the pair of diamond bracelets recorded as item number 6 on the inventory list: “a pair of bracelets where three diamonds form two barrettes; the two barrettes serve as clasps each comprising four diamonds and 96 collet-set diamonds.” these extraordinary bracelets are the only example to include diamonds belonging to her and to retain the exact design described in the Brussels inventory While it is possible that the bracelets might have been remounted at a later stage no changes were made to the overall composition and the number of diamonds were kept identical as per the inventory.” Madame Royale became the Duchess of Angoulême when she married one of her royal cousins in 1799 she became an important figure in the restored Bourbon monarchy essentially stepping to her mother’s former shoes (It’s part of the collection at Versailles today.) In the image Marie-Thérèse appears to be wearing her mother’s diamond bracelets The bracelets are expected to sell for a kingly sum. In the press release advertising the sale the market for jewels of noble provenance continues to perform extremely well.” The pre-auction estimate for the bracelets is set at $2,000,000-4,000,000 The auction will take place at the Four Seasons Hotel des Bergues in Geneva on November 9 with the bracelets taking the spotlight as Lot #1 in the sale Categories // france has bolstered its commitment to the category by curating an invitation-only digital jewellery space ruby and diamond necklace and earrings by BoghossianEntitled EIP Privé Net-a-Porter hopes the online atelier will become the destination for exclusive treasures from the world’s foremost jewellers and watchmakers As well as offering online access to traditionally offline brands Boehmer et Bassenge EIP Privé will facilitate customisation and bespoke requests when it launches on July 3 Watches and men’s jewellery will come later in 2019 Sunny Getaway 18-karat rose gold diamond bracelet by PiagetRead more: Net-A-Porter Lines Up 4 Brilliant New Designers For SS19 “Building on the success of our fine jewellery and watch suite we are delighted to introduce a special collection of exquisite high jewellery pieces at Net-a-Porter,” said Alison Loehnis “EIP Privé will offer clients a truly unique opportunity to discover the world’s most exclusive high jewellery maisons through a highly personalised 18-karat white gold diamond earrings. Platinum diamond ring by Boehmer et BassengeRead more: Why You Need To Know About Net-a-Porter's Emerging Talent Platform: The Vanguard FYI) can request to see exquisite one-of-a-kind creations that take hundreds of hours to produce via private appointments and “try before you buy” services with Net-a-Porter’s dedicated team of personal shoppers the jewel might never be seen by another customer again sapphire and diamond earrings by Bayco“It was only a few years ago that people believed fine jewellery – let alone high jewellery with its lofty price tags – was unsellable online,” commented Rachel Garrahan “Net-a-Porter is one of the online retailers demonstrating that this attitude is long behind us.” “Luxury today is all about providing a unique experience on and offline,” Garrahan continued who understands the value of craftsmanship and design wants access to unique pieces by the best jewellers wherever they may be in the world.” Net-a-porter.com 18-karat red gold and silver multi-stone earrings. Blackened 18-karat rose gold multi-stone ring by Nadia MorgenthalerMore from British Vogue: Looks like this is a wrong url or this page has been taken down a mysterious twelve-sided object from the Roman era found in a Limburg field Second mysterious dodecahedron found in Flanders the head curator at the Gallo Roman Museum in Tongeren (Limburg) that will exhibit the artefact believes an explanation needs to be sought in the occult: “The Romans attached great importance to magical practices” says Creemers “but they were often practised in hiding because officially they were illegal” who found the object in a field in Kortessem (Limburg) easily identified it as a dodecahedron In all around 120 have been found explains Creemers: “In the Netherlands A dodecahedron is a geometric figure that possesses twelve pentagonal sides that have little spheres at each corner The one found in Limburg is made of bronze and is hollow inside Each side has an opening of a different size So far four dodecahedrons have been found in Belgium though one hasn’t been documented: in Tongeren (Limburg) in Rumst (Antwerp - undocumented) and now in Kortessem The areas in which dodecahedrons were found correspond to areas once inhabited by Celtic tribes “We believe it’s there that the explanation needs to be found” says Creemers These activities were in conflict with the official religion and banned as a result “We believe the dodecahedron belongs to the occult underground but nobody really knows what it was used for houses and baths making interpretation complicated This latter element illustrates the dodecahedron wasn’t an everyday object because the Romans didn’t shy away from writing all about their lives Creemers notes many possible explanations for the dodecahedron have been put forward: “It’s a candlestick holder a primitive instrument of land measurement...” Others have suggested it’s an aid to knit gloves an instrument to help in the navigation of ships part of a sceptre or a die to predict the future Some dodecahedrons show the signs of the zodiac Creemers doesn’t set much store by such explanations He’s not holding his breath to hear the real explanation either: “The minute we really know what it was used for the 92-carat wonder is named ‘La Legende’ in honor of the royal jewelers to King Louis XV Senior International Jewelry Director for Christie’s “The name is given to the stone by its current owners and whoever buys the stone will probably keep the name or they may add their name before or after A stone of this size is a legend and It’s a very appropriate name for its owners to have christened it.” The mesmerizing ‘D Color’ stone comes suspended from a pearl sautoir necklace and it recently fetched $ 14.9 million at the Magnificent Jewels Sale in Geneva Sold at the low end of its estimated range of $14- $20 million the heart-shaped sparkler nonetheless managed to set itself a new record being the largest diamond of its kind to be sold at auction Other big sales for the evening included a 15.03-carat unheated Burmese ruby mounted on a diamond ring that fetched $12.9 million and a 7.97-carat fancy intense blue cushion-shaped diamond that fetched around $12.7 million [Via:Forbes] Luxurylaunches.com is an award winning premium lifestyle website It features the latest and the best from the world of extravagance and opulence