Diamond necklace linked to Marie-Antoinette up for auction

A 300-carat diamond necklace with links to the executed French Queen Marie Antoinette is up for sale after emerging in public for the first time in 50 years.
The sale of the 18th century diamond jewel is being hailed by Sotheby’s as a “once in a lifetime event”.
From its beginnings in the French court, to its appearance at the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in Britain, the necklace is one of the rarest diamond necklaces to ever come to auction.
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It is estimated to sell for between $AU2.7 million and $4.1 million when it goes under the hammer in November.
Although the jewel’s exact origins are not known, experts at Sotheby’s say it was likely created in the decade preceding the French Revolution, for royalty or a high-ranking aristocrat.
Crucially, it is thought some of the diamonds featured in this piece may have come from the famous necklace linked to what became known as the scandal of the ‘Affair of the Necklace’.
The plot, which has been dramatised in books, film and television, contributed to the advent of the French revolution and eventually Marie-Antoinette’s death by the guillotine.
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The necklace at the heart of the scandal was dismantled and the diamonds sold, as were many pieces owned by the royals as they were attempting to flee France in 1791, to escape their executions.
The jewel going to auction was later owned by Marquesses of Anglesey, a leading Anglo-Welsh aristocratic family with close ties to the British royal family in the early 20th century.
In 1937 Marjorie Paget, Marchioness of Anglesey, wore the jewel to the coronation of King George VI, together with the famous Anglesey tiara.
A portrait by royal photographer Cecil Beaton shows the marchioness wearing her coronation robes and diamond jewel.
In 1953, her daughter-in-law attended the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II wearing the same collection of jewels.
The necklace left the family in the 1960s and was later acquired by an important Asian collector where it has remained ever since.
“This rare and important diamond jewel is a sublime survivor from the opulent court life of the Georgian era, defined by its unrivalled pomp and splendour; it is arguably one of the most magnificent and intact Georgian jewels in private hands,” Sotheby’s Andres White Correal, Head of Noble Jewels, said.
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“When compared to other surviving imperial and royal jewels from the same period, this necklace stands head and shoulders above these examples; it is a fortune in diamonds, and also a masterclass in exquisite design, workmanship and technical innovation for the period.
“The jewel is as relevant, alluring, and appealing today as when it was made over two centuries ago.”
The necklace is composed of three rows of diamonds finished with a diamond tassel at each end.
Also referred to as ‘négligé’, the necklace can be worn around the neck with the tassels hanging or tied in a simple knot.
The stones are old mine brilliant cut diamonds, likely to have been sourced from the legendary Golconda mines in India.
The famed, and controversial, Koh-i-Noor diamond that is part of the British Crown Jewels, was found at the Golconda mine.
The necklace will be sold during the Royal and Noble sale at Geneva’s Mandarin Oriental on November 11.
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