At Christie’s Magnificent Jewels live auction in Geneva on 9th November, two diamond bracelets, once owned by the Queen of France, Marie Antoinette, sold for £5.8 million ($8 million).
It was the first time that the bracelets, made up of 112 old cut diamonds, had ever been put up for auction. They achieved double their original estimate of $2,000,000 to $4,000,000.
Prior to the auction, François Curiel, Chairman Christie’s Luxury, commented; ’Over the past 255 years Christie’s have offered many Historic Jewels from Royal Houses around the world. It is a privilege to be able to offer these exceptional and unique bracelets for sale at Christie’s where they will attract bidding from collectors globally. As seen in recent Geneva sales, the market for jewels of noble provenance continues to perform extremely well’
A brief history of the bracelets
In 1776 Marie Antoinette had been Queen of France for two years and was already recognised as the queen of elegance and style. She could not resist jewellery – especially diamonds. In the spring of 1776, she bought these two diamond bracelets for 250,000 livres, a huge sum at the time. According to Count Mercy-Argenteau, Austria’s Ambassador to France, they were paid partly in gemstones from the Queen’s collection and partly with funds the Queen received from King Louis XVI. Recent discoveries by jewellery historian Vincent Meylan shows that in February 1777, in the personal papers of King Louis XVI, it is stated: ‘to the Queen: down payment of 29,000 livres for the diamond bracelets she bought from Boehmer’.
Count Mercy-Argenteau left his post as Ambassador of the Austrian Empire to France in 1790 and took office in Brussels. On 11 January 1791, he received a letter from Queen Marie Antoinette, then a prisoner in the Tuileries in Paris. It announced that a wooden chest would be sent to him for safekeeping. Mercy-Argenteau stored it unopened for the next couple of years. On 16 October 1793, Marie Antoinette was guillotined and in February 1794, Emperor Francis II of Austria (1768-1835) ordered the chest to be opened in Brussels and an inventory to be made. It read as ‘Item no. 6 – A pair of bracelets where three diamonds, with the biggest set in the middle, form two barrettes; the two barrettes serve as clasps, each comprising four diamonds and 96 collet-set diamonds’. Madame Royale (1778-1851), surviving daughter of Marie Antoinette, received these jewels in January 1796 upon her arrival in Austria.
The Live Auction
The live auction also presented an important selection of jewels with royal provenance in addition to the Marie Antoinette diamond bracelets. These included the ruby bangle of the Duchess of Windsor, a ruby and diamond brooch by Ménière and an early 19th century “Ears of Wheat” tiara, formerly the property of Princess Pauline Bonaparte (Borghese).
Magnificent Jewels was surrounded by the Jewels Online: The Geneva Edit, which ran from 2nd November to 11th November, offering 251 lots. This featured a comprehensive selection of the celebrated stones including diamonds, sapphires, emeralds and rubies and jewellery signed by the most renowned houses. To view the results visit Christie’s.
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Photo: Magnificent Jewels Geneva, The Historic Marie Antoinette Diamonds. © Christie’s