047
R
eignin g as the queen of France
alongside King Louis XVI from
1774 to 1792, Marie Antoinette
was the most glamorous
woman in Europe in the 18th century,
setting trends that were slavishly followed
by fashionable ladies of the royal courts.
Her extravagance provided fuel for the
satirical newspapers of the day, and her
love of fine clothes and jewellery earned
her the nickname “Madame Déficit”.
Among her indulgences were up to 300
dresses a year, countless pairs of perfumed
gloves, and a hoard of sparkling jewellery.
Some of it was made from paste (heavy
flint glass) but much of it was real, including
a favourite of the queen – a pair of diamond
earrings with pear-shaped drops, one
weighing 20.34 carats, the other weighing
14.25 carats. Thought to be a gift from
Louis XVI, and commissioned from
jewellers to the French court Boehmer and
Bassenge, the earrings are believed to have
passed down through the French royal
family following Marie Antoinette’s death
by guillotine in 1793 during the French
Revolution. They resurfaced some 60 years
later as a wedding gift from Napoleon III to
Empress Eugénie, who was fascinated by,and modelled her style on, Marie Antoinette.
After Eugénie was exiled to England in
1871, the earrings were sold to a Russian
aristocrat, who in turn sold them to jeweller
Pierre Cartier in 1928. In the same year,
they were bought by American socialite
Marjorie Merriweather Post, and in 1964 her
daughter donated them to the Smithsonian
Institution in the US, where they can still be
seen in the Gem Gallery.MARIE ANTOINETTE’S DIAMOND EARRINGS
Key dates
1755–1964
17251750177518001900195020001850Napoleon IIIMarie Antoinette’s
diamond earrings
Portrait of Empress Eugénie, who received the earrings
from Napoleon III as a wedding gift, and sold them after
Napoleon’s defeat in the Franco-Prussian War in 1871△ Marie Antoinette pictured wearing the earringsEvery woman wanted to imitate
the queen. Everyone rushed
to get the same jewellery
Madame Campan
First lady-in-waiting to Marie Antoinette1755 Marie Antoinette
is born in Vienna, 15th
child of the Empress of
Austria, Maria Theresa
1770 Marie travels to
France to marry Louis
Auguste, grandson
of King Louis XV
1774–89 During their
reign, Louis presents
Marie with the pear-drop
diamond earrings1928 Pierre Cartier buys the
earrings and sells them to
Marjorie Merriweather Post1853 Napoleon III gives the
earrings to Empress Eugénie
to celebrate their marriage1964 Post’s daughter,
Eleanor Barzin, donates
the earrings to the
Smithsonian Institution1774 Louis Auguste
takes the throne;
Marie becomes queen1870–72 Empress
Eugénie is thought to sell
the earrings to Duchess
Tatiana Yousupoff of Russia1793 Marie Antoinette
dies at the guillotine;
her earrings remain in
the French royal family1959 The diamonds are
mounted into replica
settings by jewellers
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