Historic Diamond Necklace Linked to Marie Antoinette’s Scandal Sells for $4.8 Million
An 18th-century diamond necklace, believed to contain diamonds linked to Marie Antoinette’s infamous “Affair of the Diamond Necklace,” fetched over 4.2 million Swiss francs ($4.8 million) at a Sotheby’s auction in Geneva on Wednesday. Weighing around 300 carats, this antique piece likely originated a decade before the French Revolution and was showcased publicly for the first time in 50 years during a pre-auction tour.
While the necklace’s precise origins remain unrecorded, Sotheby’s asserts it was most likely crafted for royalty or an aristocrat. The piece was once owned by the British Marquesses of Anglesey and has a storied history; it was worn by Marjorie Paget, the Marchioness of Anglesey, at King George VI’s 1937 coronation and by her daughter-in-law at Queen Elizabeth II’s 1953 coronation. In the 1960s, the necklace left the family’s possession, later exhibited in New York’s American Museum of Natural History before ending up with a private collector.
The opulent necklace boasts three rows of old mine brilliant-cut diamonds, weighing between one and one-and-a-half carats each. The diamonds are thought to have originated from the legendary Golconda mines of India, known for producing some of the world’s finest gems, including the Hope Diamond. Sotheby’s chair Andres White Correal praised the necklace as a rare artifact of Georgian-era luxury and craftsmanship, showcasing both technical sophistication and historical importance.
This dazzling piece may also carry a notorious history. Some diamonds in the necklace are believed to be from the piece central to the “Affair of the Diamond Necklace” scandal of 1785, which rocked the court of King Louis XVI. In the scandal, a cardinal was deceived into buying an elaborate diamond necklace on behalf of a woman impersonating Queen Marie Antoinette. When jewelers demanded payment, the Queen denied knowledge of the necklace, revealing the scheme. The scandal, which falsely implicated Marie Antoinette in a supposed immoral relationship, damaged her reputation and heightened public disdain for the monarchy, further fueling the tensions that led to the French Revolution.
