When we say the charm of the nobility. In spite of the French Revolution, Queen Marie Antoinette (guillotined) takes her revenge. His bracelets don diamonds (old cut, of course), silver and yellow gold, commissioned around 1776, adapted in the 19th century, and placed in a blue velvet case, were auctioned at Magnificent Jewels organized by Christie’s in Geneva. They were sold for around 7 million euros (equivalent to 7.5 million Swiss francs, or 8.2 million dollars), a figure that is almost double the maximum estimate that preceded the auction.
The jewels were bought by the queen and she bought these two diamond bracelets for 250,000 lire, which was a huge sum for the time. According to Count Mercy-Argenteau, ambassador of Austria to France, they were paid partly in precious stones from the queen’s collection and partly with the funds the queen received from her husband, King Louis XVI. At the time of the Revolution, the jewels were brought to Belgium, then passed to Madame Royale, the surviving daughter of Marie Antoinette. Now they have changed ownership.
The Geneva auction also had other interesting pieces in the catalog. A pear-cut diamond of 55.50 carats was sold for 4.5 million euros. A yellow gold brooch with drop and baguette cut diamonds and cushion cut ruby, signed Van Cleef & Arpels, was sold for 3.8 million euros. A platinum ring with an oval brilliant cut diamond of 43.19 carats totaled 3.1 million euros. In all, the auction closed with sales of over 50 million euros.
