An vintage diamond necklace worn at Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation and could also be linked to a French scandal involving Marie Antoinette may fetch as a lot as £2m at public sale.
The necklace, fabricated from 300 carats, was additionally worn to King George VI’s coronation by members of the Marquess of Anglesey household, who owned the diamonds till the Nineteen Sixties after they bought them.
It has not made a public look for half a century till now, and it’s estimated to fetch a excessive value – between £1,348,416 and £2,097,536 when it’s provided within the Sotheby’s Geneva sale in November.
The decadent necklace boasts 500 diamonds, featured on three ropes, and can go on a worldwide tour starting at Sotheby’s London public sale home earlier than jetting off to Hong Kong, New York, Singapore, Taipei and Dubai.
Some jewelry historians imagine it options diamonds from the notorious piece that created a scandal for Marie Antoinette. The “affair of the necklace”, when the French queen was falsely accused of not paying for the merchandise – which was actually taken by a conman who pretended to be performing on her behalf.
Andres White Correal, the chair and head of the royal and noble gross sales at Sotheby’s for Europe and the Center East, advised the PA information company: “I believe a very powerful half, apart from the worth of the diamonds, is the truth that it has survived.
“You solely see these items in museums when it has been from royal households who’re nonetheless reigning, just like the collections right here in Britain, or while you go to former imperial and royal collections in locations like St Petersburg or Moscow, the place you may see the collections of the tsar.
“So sure, you go to a museum, and you may see a jewel of this stage. Usually, you don’t see it in non-public palms.”
Correal mentioned he hoped the necklace was acquired by an establishment or for a personal assortment that “appreciates” the jewels and would enable the general public to find out about their historical past and the way folks used to put on jewelry.
“And if that wouldn’t be the case, I’d love for the necklace to go to a stable and great assortment the place an individual who appreciates this sort of jewel would safe-keep it for the following era,” he added.
“I don’t suppose that objects like this you truly personal, you might be merely the custodian of such an unbelievable object to cross it on, both to a brand new era or to an establishment the place many different folks can get pleasure from it.”
The necklace shall be auctioned at Sotheby’s royal and noble sale on 11 November on the Mandarin Oriental in Geneva.
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