Saved from the revolution - Marie Antoinette's Pearl Necklace

 

When Marie Antoinette realized that her life was in peril during the French Revolution, the much-maligned Queen of France sent her most precious items to family members abroad. 

 

 

Among the jewels that the queen smuggled away was a pendant with a large natural pearl in the shape of a tear drop complemented by diamonds. 

Safely wrapped, it moved between relatives from Brussels and then to the Austrian empire, remaining in the private possession of extended relatives for centuries. 

Some 200 years later, the incredible piece of jewelry with a dramatic backstory has hit the auction block, shattered its estimate, and set a world record.

In 2018 at Sotheby’s Geneva, the drop-shaped pearl and diamond piece from the queen’s personal collection sold to an undisclosed buyer for $36 million, eclipsing its pre-sale high estimate of $1.8 million by leaps and bounds.

 

A piece of history and I only hope that the new owner gets to wear it longer than Marie Antoinette did.

 

Belle journee a tous ♥

 

Leeann