Diamond necklace linked to executed French queen auctioned

Sotheby's auction house has just sold a diamond necklace believed to be linked to a scandal that contributed to the downfall of Queen Marie Antoinette during the French Revolution.

The necklace, adorned with nearly 500 diamonds, holds immense historical value.

A diamond-encrusted necklace possibly linked to the late French Queen Marie Antoinette was sold for $4.81 million (over 122 billion VND) at an auction in Geneva, Switzerland, on November 13.

Offered for sale by a private Asian collector, the jewelry, set with 300 carats of diamonds, fetched a higher price than expected, according to Reuters, citing auction house Sotheby's.

"Clearly, there's a niche market for historic jewelry with unusual origins. People aren't just buying the object; they're buying the entire history associated with it," says jewelry expert Andres White Correal at Sotheby's.

The necklace in question is set with diamonds from a previous necklace, which contributed to the downfall of the late Queen Antoinette.

Antoinette was a member of the Austrian royal family who became the wife of King Louis XVI of France. Both were executed by guillotine in 1793 during the French Revolution.

The necklace was originally at the center of a 1785 scandal, known as the "diamond necklace affair." At the time, an impoverished noblewoman named Jeanne de la Motte impersonated the French queen and purchased the necklace without paying for it.

A subsequent trial acquitted the queen, but it did not diminish her growing notoriety for extravagance, which contributed to the revolution and the overthrow of the French monarchy.

The diamonds of the original necklace, crafted in the 1770s, were subsequently sold individually on the black market and are therefore almost impossible to trace.

However, some experts, after assessing the quality and age, determined that some of the stones had been set into the necklace that was auctioned above. This necklace, which resembles a scarf, can be worn open or knotted in the front.

A previous owner of the necklace was the Marquess of Anglesey in England. A member of the Marquess's family wore it at the coronation of the late Queen Elizabeth II, according to Sotheby's auction house.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/dau-gia-vong-co-kim-cuong-lien-quan-nu-hoang-phap-bi-hanh-hinh-185241114105536016.htm