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Oct 25, 2024

The story behind the dazzling £2.1 million diamond necklace linked to Marie Antoinette’s downfall

Crafted circa 1776 and having spent time on the necks of British aristocracy, the 300-carat dazzler is now set to be auctioned at Sotheby’s An antique diamond necklace worn at two British coronations,

Crafted circa 1776 and having spent time on the necks of British aristocracy, the 300-carat dazzler is now set to be auctioned at Sotheby’s

An antique diamond necklace worn at two British coronations, which experts believe is linked to an historic scandal involving Marie Antoinette, is set to be auctioned for an estimated £2.1 million at Sotheby’s Geneva on November 13, with bids open online from Friday.

The necklace, which comes from a private Asian collection, is set with 300 carats of diamonds in a supple scarf-style design finished with two sumptuous tassels. It was made circa 1776 and, said the auction house in a press release, it characterises the “opulence and versatility” of jewellery from the era; it could be worn as a necklace, open or tied into a knot, or even sewn onto a piece of clothing.

Sotheby’s experts believe that the diamonds originate from India’s legendary Golconda mines, which produced the oldest, purest and highest quality diamonds ever discovered. “During the 18th century, diamonds were the ultimate symbol of wealth and privilege,” says Emily Barber, the head of fine and important jewellery sales for Europe at Sotheby’s.

“They were often mounted in closed-back, foiled settings to improve and homogenise their appearance. But this jewel is lavishly set in open-backed settings – an innovative way of setting for the time – with an impressive 300 carats of diamonds, meaning it must have been created for a person at the very highest echelons of society. Only the very finest jeweller could have created this piece.”

The Golconda mines were exhausted by the end of the 19th century, and most Georgian diamond jewels have been dismantled, making the existence of this intact necklace extraordinary in itself. “This necklace is one of the most impressive 18th-century jewels still in private hands,” adds Barber. “It is literally like owning a piece of history.”

The provenance of the extravagant jewel is even more impressive. Although its beginnings are unknown, in the 19th century the necklace was owned by the aristocratic Paget family, who held the Marquessate of Anglesey. The 5th Marquess, Henry Cyril Paget, was renowned for his flamboyant style and taste for diamond jewellery, which he wore while performing on stage in the theatre he built at his country estate.

When he died in 1905, most of his collection was sold to pay his debts. But some pieces were inherited by his cousin, Charles Paget, the 6th Marquess, who presented this necklace as a wedding present to his wife, Lady Marjorie Manners, in 1912.

The Marchioness wore the necklace to the coronation of King George VI in 1937; she was photographed by Cecil Beaton with it draped casually around her neck, and the Anglesey diamond tiara atop her head. Her daughter-in-law, Shirley Morgan, who became Marchioness when she married George Paget in 1948, wore both jewels to the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953, this time fastening the necklace in a knot.

In 1959, the necklace was exhibited in London alongside royal and aristocratic diamond jewels including the Williamson Pink Diamond, and a brooch owned by Queen Elizabeth II comprising the Cullinan III and IV diamonds. In the 1960s the Paget family parted with the necklace and in the 1970s it was acquired for a private Asian collection; the Sotheby’s sale is the first time it has been seen publicly in over half a century.

The necklace’s provenance is made even more intriguing by its possible links to Marie Antoinette. Experts have suggested that some of the diamonds were originally set in a jewel that contributed to the demise of the French monarchy. The Affair of the Diamond Necklace centred around an extravagant, scarf-like diamond necklace finished with tassels. The Queen was falsely accused of defrauding the Crown jewellers by ordering but never paying for the necklace: a scandal that further sullied her public reputation in the years preceding the French Revolution. The reality, though, was far more complicated.

The infamous necklace had been made in the 1770s by the French jewellery house Boehmer & Bassenge as a gift for the mistress of King Louis XV, the Comtesse du Barry. The King died before the necklace was completed, leaving the jeweller with a deficit that only a monarch could afford to repay. The house tried to convince the new King Louis XVI to purchase the necklace as a gift for Marie Antoinette, who declined. So the jeweller enlisted the courtier Jeanne de Valois-Saint-Rémy to persuade the Queen to buy the necklace, promising her a commission if she were successful. Still, Marie Antoinette declined.

Valois-Saint-Rémy devised a scheme to dupe her lover, Cardinal de Rohan, into buying the necklace. The Cardinal had fallen out of favour with the Queen; desperate to manoeuvre his way back into the court, he relied on Valois-Saint-Rémy. The courtier began forging letters to the Cardinal signed “Marie Antoinette de France”.

Their correspondence became increasingly warm in tone, leading the Cardinal to believe that Marie Antoinette was in love with him. Valois-Saint-Rémy reportedly arranged for a prostitute who resembled the Queen to meet the Cardinal one night in the gardens of Versailles, when the “Queen” assured de Rohan that she had forgotten their prior disagreements.

In 1785, a letter from the “Queen” instructed the Cardinal to buy the Boehmer and Bassenge necklace, asking him to act as a secret intermediary in order to avoid public criticism. The Cardinal negotiated the purchase for two million livres, to be paid in instalments, using the fraudulent letters as proof of the Queen’s authorisation. He delivered the necklace to Valois-Saint-Rémy, who had it dismantled and sold the diamonds on the black market. Nobody knows exactly where those diamonds ended up. But based on the timing, the style of the necklaces and the quality and age of the diamonds, experts believe that some of them could be set in the necklace being auctioned at Sotheby’s.

“Several origin stories are probable but none with conclusive evidence,” says Barber. “One theory suggests the diamonds were spirited away from France into London, dismantled and sold to Robert Gray, a Bond Street jeweller in the 18th century.”

Barber also refers to the diary of the American-born British politician and society figure, Sir Henry “Chips” Channon, who in 1946 wrote about Clare Sutherland-Leveson-Gower, Duchess of Sutherland, wearing “Marie Antoinette’s famous diamond necklace, or at least two ropes of it” at a magnificent ball. “The rest, according to history, was broken up before the French Revolution but I believe the Anglesey tassels, which Marjorie sometimes wears, are a part of it,” he wrote.

The Affair of the Diamond Necklace ended in public scandal when Boehmer and Bassenge, still awaiting payment, complained to Marie Antoinette. When presented with the forged correspondence as proof, the Queen had the Cardinal arrested, starting a trial that, although proving her innocence, destroyed her already-tarnished public reputation.

Valois-Saint-Rémy was sentenced to life in prison in 1786 but escaped the following year, while Marie Antoinette ceased almost all of her public appearances, so great was the hatred towards her due to her perceived flamboyance in the face of a national financial crisis. Following the French Revolution, she was publicly executed in 1793.

After going on public display in London, Hong Kong, New York, Singapore, Taipei and Dubai, the necklace will go under the hammer as part of the Royal & Noble Jewels auction at Sotheby’s Geneva on November 13. “The necklace is such a rare antique piece; it is certainly worthy of entering a museum’s collection. However, it will also have enormous appeal to collectors too because of its rarity, beauty and timeless design,” says Barber. “An 18th-century jewel of this calibre and importance will not be seen again at auction for a very long time.” Online bidding for the sale begins on Friday.

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