The Napoleon diamond necklace
The historic Napoleon diamond necklace was gifted in 1811 by the French emperor to his second spouse, Marie-Louise, upon the beginning of their son, Napoleon II, the Emperor of Rome. The gorgeous silver and gold design was conceived by Etienne Nitôt and Sons of Paris and, in response to the Smithsonian, initially featured 234 diamonds: 28 outdated mine-cut diamonds, 9 pendeloques and 10 briolettes, enhanced by a number of smaller gems. “The entire stones have been mined in India or Brazil, the place the perfect diamonds got here from at this level,” says Hiscox of the necklace’s mesmeric enchantment. “They’ve this extraordinary limpid, water-like high quality.”
Upon Napoleon’s downfall, his Hapsburg spouse and her many jewels returned to her native Vienna, and following her loss of life, the necklace handed to her sister-in-law Sophie of Austria. The archduchess resolved to shorten it by eradicating two stones and turning them into earrings, the whereabouts of that are presently unknown. The necklace, in the meantime, remained within the household till 1948, when it was offered first to a French collector, and ultimately to the US businesswoman Marjorie Merriweather Publish, who gave it to the Smithsonian in 1962. There, it continues to be revered, says Hiscox, as “one of the spectacular items of [its] interval”.
If you need to touch upon this story or the rest you will have seen on BBC Tradition, head over to our Fb web page or message us on Twitter.
And in the event you appreciated this story, join the weekly bbc.com options publication, referred to as The Important Listing. A handpicked number of tales from BBC Future, Tradition, Worklife and Journey, delivered to your inbox each Friday.
