The pearl of Queen Marie-Antoinette sold for 32 million euros from Sotheby’s ♦ ︎
Not always the jewels of historical origin, belonging to great noble families, to a queen, Duchess or Marchesa are, in a auction, evaluated for their ability to witness an era. Exceptions, however, were the jewels that belonged to Marie Antoinette, queen of France who was beheaded during the French Revolution. In fact, its jewels, auctioned at Geneva by Sotheby’s, represent something beyond the ordinary.
Saved by revolutionary fury, with changed owners, guarded by relatives of the queen, sold, bought back, in some cases disassembled and reassembled, the jewelry of Marie Antoinette had already impressed before being sold. But there remained a question: would there be someone willing to evaluate not only the jewel, but also its history? We have already written about on gioiellis.com and now we have the answer.
The best jewels that belonged to the French royal family, never shown in public before this auction, were sold.
The pear-shaped pearl pendant, that belonged to Maria Antonietta, lot number 100, marked the record: 32 million euro. A splendid necklace with three strands of pearls, originally belonging to Marie Antoinette, has been conquered for 2 million euros. The double-bow brooch with diamonds, plus a yellow diamond added later, made 1.8 million, the ring with the monogram of Marie Antoinette was awarded to 391,000 euros (also contains a lock of hair of the unfortunate queen). Also worthy of mention is the brooch with the sapphire, ruby and diamonds coat of arms of the Order of the Golden Fleece, around 1820, which has touched the final price of 1.5 million.
The Hübner diamond tiara from 1912, which belonged to Charles X, the last king of France, was sold for 853,000 euros. The sale of jewels it yielded around 46 million euros (53.5 million Swiss francs).
In addition to the jewels that belonged to Maria Antonietta, the Sotheby’s auction also included other jewels of noble origin, belonging to the Bourbon-Parma dynasty.
For example, the ring with orangy pink diamond fantasy, around 1909. It was donated by the Archduke Frédéric of Austria (1856-1936) to his daughter, the Archduchess Maria Anna of Austria, Princess Elie de Bourbon Parme ( 1882-1940), on the occasion of the birth of his son, Robert, in 1909. From a maximum estimate of 157,000 euros, it was sold for over half a million. Federico Graglia