Jewel__A_Celebration_of_Earth_s_Treasures

MARIE-LOUISE’S DIADEM 113

F

ew pieces of historic jewellery

have undergone such a dramatic

makeover as the Marie-Louise

Diadem. Dating from 1810, the tiara

was originally studded with 79 deep green

Colombian emeralds totalling 700 carats.

It is named after Empress Marie-Louise

of France, who received the headpiece

from her husband Napoleon I to mark

their wedding in 1810. Made in Paris by

Francois-Regnault Nitot of Etienne Nitot

et Fils (which later became the jeweller

Chaumet), it was part of an emerald

and diamond parure that

included a necklace, comb,

belt buckle, and earrings.

When Napoleon’s

empire crumbled,

Marie-Louise fled

to Austria and, on

her death, left the

parure to her aunt,

Archduchess Elise.

However, in the 1950s,

jewellery maker Van

Cleef & Arpels acquired the

diadem from a descendent of

Elise, and removed and sold

the emeralds at auction.

The company advertised them with the

catchphrase, “An emerald for you from

the historic Napoleonic Tiara...” The gems

consisted of a central emerald weighing

12 carats, along with 21 other large

emeralds and 57 smaller ones.

Van Cleef & Arpels replaced the

emeralds with 79 turquoise cabochons, a

change that horrified some, but appealed

to others. One such admirer was American

socialite and breakfast cereal heiress

Marjorie Merriweather Post. She purchased

the tiara in 1971, adding it to her

extraordinary collection of

jewellery, which had

included a 263-carat

diamond necklace

commissioned

by Napoleon as a gift

for Marie-Louise

when she gave birth

to their son in 1811

(see pp.284–85). After

wearing the reworked

turquoise diadem a few

times, Merriweather Post

donated it to the American

Smithsonian Institution, where it

can still be seen today.

Marie-Louise’s diadem

Key dates

1810–1971

1800

1825

1875

1925

1950

1975

1900

French Emperor

Napoleon I

Marjorie Merriweather

Post

△ Marie-Louise’s diadem, reset with turquoise cabochons

Replica of the parure’s

emerald necklace

A turquoise given by a loving

hand carries with it happiness

and good fortune

Arabic proverb

1810 Napoleon

commissions the diadem

as a gift for his second

wife, Marie-Louise

1847 The diadem is

bequeathed by Marie-

Louise to her aunt,

Archduchess Elise

1953–56 Van Cleef

& Arpels buys the

diadem; the emeralds

are removed and sold

1962 The parure is

displayed at the Louvre, Paris

1967 The largest

emerald from the diadem

is set in a brooch for

American philanthropist

Sybil Harrington

1956–62 The emeralds are

replaced with turquoises

1971 The diadem is bought

by heiress Marjorie

Merriweather Post for

the Smithsonian Institution

1814 Marie-Louise

returns to the family

home in Vienna,

taking her jewellery

1850

112-113_STO_ML_Diadem.indd 113 18/05/2016 10:57