'Romance and magic': Marie Antoinette's jewels on show before auction

Marie Antoinette's dazzling diamonds and pearls, unseen in public for two centuries, went on show in London on Friday before going on sale next month in one of the most important royal jewelry auctions in history.

The treasures were secretly whisked out of Paris in 1791 in the aftermath of the French Revolution and have been privately owned by ever since.

The collection, held by the Royal House of Bourbon-Parma, is being sold by Sotheby's auction house in Geneva on Nov. 14.

On show at their London headquarters, the lots include 10 pieces which belonged to Marie Antoinette, the last queen of France before the French Revolution. She was guillotined in Paris aged 37 in October 1793.

"The romance, magic and universality of her name is because she represents that sophistication of the old regime. She is it, "Andres White Correal, Sotheby's senior director of jewelry, told AFP.

"It is the sale of the 21st century. Because how do you top Marie Antoinette? Also because it's so scarce. There is not much left. "

The highlight is Queen Marie Antoinette's Pearl, a natural pearl and diamond valued for $ 1-2 million (almost P64.5 million).

A natural pearl and diamond necklace made up of three rows of more than 100 slightly graduated pearls is expected to fetch $ 200,000-300,000 (almost P10.8 million to around P16.1 million), a pair of natural pearl and diamond for earrings.

A monogrammed ring containing a lock of her hair is valued at $ 8,000-10,000 (almost P430,000 to P537,500).

"The ring is a small diamond ring, with the monogram set with rose diamonds," Sotheby's jewelry specialist Benoit Repellin told AFP.

"The value of the diamonds themselves is very low but there is an emotional value and a historic value behind it."

Spirited out of France

A fine natural pearl and diamond necklace is priced at $ 40,000-70,000, while a double ribbon bow diamond brooch is estimated at $ 50,000-80,000 (close to P2.7 million to almost P4.3 million).

When King Louis XVI, his wife Marie Antoinette and their children tried to flee the French Revolution in March 1791, the royal jewels were smuggled out of the country into the trust of a confidant in Brussels.

They were then sentenced in Austria and passed down through the generations.

"It is one of the most important," said Daniela Mascetti, deputy chair of Sotheby's Jewelryy Europe.

"This extraordinary group of jewels offers a captivating insight into the lives of its owners going back hundreds of years."

White Correal compared Marie Antoinette to Egyptian pharaoh Cleopatra and Britain's Diana, Princess of Wales.

He said there were more political and historical stature goals for Marie Antoinette "had the pace".

The Bourbon-Parma, Charles X, the last monarch styled king of France, including a diamond tiara; Jewels from Empress Marie Therese of Austria – Marie Antoinette's Mother – Austrian Emperor Franz Joseph I, who died in 1916.

The fleur de lys tiara design, made in 1912, contains diamonds from the collection of Charles X., Marie Antoinette's brother-in-law, who died in 1836. It is estimated at $ 350,000-550,000 (around P18.8 million to around P29. 5 million).

The collection has been exhibited in Hong Kong, Dubai and New York, and will go to Singapore, Taipei and back to Geneva where they will go under the hammer. MKH

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