Mozes Victor Konig Asks: Diamonds are forever?
“Marie-Antoinette’s diamond bracelets smash auction estimate, selling for $8.2 million.”
Created in 1791 it would appear that not only “Forever” but “ever-increasing”, at least in value!
CNN Style reported on the recent sale of the 140–150 carats of diamonds, in the famous Charles Auguste Boemer bracelets.
The auction house had predicted the bracelets would sell for between $2 million and $4 million.
“Queen Marie Antoinette’s diamonds captured the world’s attention and achieved a fitting result for such a magnificent Royal Jewel!” Rahul Kadakia, Christie’s international head of jewelry, said in a statement.
Kadakia commented on the “very dynamic saleroom,” as well as “strong online and telephone bids from around the world.”
Marie-Antoinette sent the bracelets out of France for safekeeping in January 1791, during the Revolution that would eventually see her die by the guillotine on October 16, 1793.
For more than two centuries they were kept safe in a private royal collection, according to a statement from Christie’s issued before the auction.
The “extraordinary bracelets” boast approximately 140–150 carats of diamonds, the auctioneer said in the pre-sale statement.
“What is miraculous is that they have remained together and intact when they could have easily been broken up, as many other jewels of royal provenance have been,” Jean-Marc Lunel, senior international specialist in the jewelry department at Christie’s in Geneva, said in the statement. “This makes them particularly attractive to collectors.”
