The two diamond bracelets that María Antonieta put safely when her end approached are sold for seven million

En el Museo Nacional de Estocolmo, entre obras de Goya, Rembrandt y Gauguin, puede verse un lienzo pintado por Adolf Ulrik Wertmüller en 1785. Este artista sueco fue por aquella época uno de los retratistas de María Antonieta, a quien captó en los jardines del Pequeño Trianón de Versalles junto con su primogénita, María Teresa de Francia, conocida como Madame Royale, y el Delfín, Luis José. La entonces reina francesa aparece en el cuadro como una auténtica prescriptora de moda del siglo XVIII: luce un elaborado peinado de Monsieur Léonard, su peluquero favorito; vestido de seda y encajes; zapatos de tacón y un buen despliegue de joyas. Entre ellas llama la atención la chatelaine, o castellana, un adorno con tres filas de diamantes que cuelga de su corsé. Esa pieza para decorar el cinturón está en realidad formada por dos pulseras de diamantes encargadas por la reina hacia 1776, las mismas que el 9 de noviembre fueron vendidas por Christie’s en Ginebra a un “comprador anónimo”, según comunicó la casa de subastas. La cifra alcanzada, siete millones de euros, superó las expectativas de la compañía, que había estimado conseguir un precio de venta de entre 1,9 y 3,8 millones de euros.

As the original influencer that was, María Antonieta always made clear her taste for the exclusive.She marked what was fashionable in the court of Louis XVI and the jewels were one of her recognized passions.And one of the excessive luxuries that outraged the French people and ended up taking it to the guillotine in 1793, with only 37 years: in 1785 the known as the collars, when the royal jewels Charles Boehmer and Marc Basseng demanded the Queen 1, 5 million pounds for a necklace with more than 600 diamonds that she denied having commissioned.The scandal was served and although it was shown that María Antonieta had nothing to do with the matter, a scam lined by the Countess of the Motte, the public opinion sentenced her.Alejandro Dumas narrated what happened on the Queen's necklace (1849) and his echo continues to inspire stories today: the imposing piece of jewelry is one of the axes of the Netflix Lupin series.

“David Rockefeller said that artistic objects, and for me these jewels are, they do not belong to us: they accompany us for a while and then continue their way.50% of the value of pieces such as these bracelets is all they have lived before and what will continue later, ”says María García Yelo, Christie’s delegate in Spain in Spain.The fact of having been linked to a figure as charismatic as María Antonieta multiplies her attractivemake them more desirable ".Precisely the two auctioned bracelets this week are loaded with historical anecdotes, since they were part of the private collection of jewels that María Antonieta put safely when he saw his end approach.“It is well documented that the queen carefully wrapped her jewels in cotton to send them out of revolutionary France and preserve them.Many of them did not come to light until centuries later.This couple of wonderfully beautiful diamond bracelets was preserved by their descendants for 200 years, ”François Curiel, president of Christie’s Europe, explained in a statement.

These two ancient size diamond bracelets set in white and golden gold commissioned by the queen around 1776 and rehabited in the nineteenth century were a personal effort of the consort of Louis XVI.The investigations carried out by Christie’s reveal that the Austrian ambassador to France, the Count of Mercy Argenteau, mentions these accessories in one of his letters to Empress María Teresa de Austria, mother of María Antonieta.In it, the diplomat comments that the queen had to sell some diamonds of her possession at a very low price to be able to face the first payment of these bracelets created by Boehmer and then valued in a small fortune, 250.000 pounds.

Madame Royale, the queen's daughter who appears with her in Wertmüller's portrait, inherited all those jewels that could be saved from the French revolution and, when she died without offspring, these goods were divided into three lots that her nephews bequeathed: theCount and the Countess of Chambord and the Duchess of Parma.The now auctioned diamond bracelets corresponded to the Duchess of Parma and Piacenza, Louise de Artois (1819-1864), and then passed to Robert I, Duke of Parma (1848-1907), and his descendants.Until 2018, when a large part of the jewels belonging to María Antonieta-until then in the possession of the Bourbon-Parma family-were auctioned by Sotheby’s in Geneva, many of these jewelry had remained in different private collections.On that stroke of 2018 there was a lot that beat records: that of the diamond pendant that included the great pearl of María Antonieta, which was sold for 31.7 million euros.

Thus joined different jewels that have been auctioned in recent decades and have aroused true fascination among collectors.Alexandra Kindermann, Communication Director of Christie's Europe, lists by email those who consider that it has been the 'star auctions' of jewelry in her signature: "Jewelry for hope was a great sale, in which Lily Safra [Philanthropy and SocialitéBrazilian] offered some of his most spectacular possessions to raise funds for charities.The sale of the jewels of Elizabeth Taylor was another moment to remember, in which the engagement ring that Richard Burton gave him was sold.And Princess Margarita's bridal tiara or the fantastic collection of black pearls of Nina Dryer "also stands out..Although, without a doubt, he remembers that one of the most frantic bids was that of the Diamond Oppenheimer Blue, a precious stone of 14.62 carats, which in 2016 reached the astronomical price of 51.3 million euros, becoming the most expensive jewelNever sold at an auction until that moment (beaten record a couple of years later, when Rosa Pink Star diamond was sold in Hong Kong for 66.7 million euros).

What does certain jewels do special, what leads to pay for those unexpected figures?“All the previous examples had different points that made them attractive, there was always a very high quality but, above all, mostly, they had not been available in the market for decades.In addition, fascinating stories for buyers had behind, ”says Kindermann.This exclusivity enriched with personal anecdotes is the one that has helped be beaten records to pieces such as the well -known pearl La Peregrina, which Christie's New York auctioned in 2011 along with other belongings by actress Elizabeth Taylor: her ex -husband Richard Burton had given it to SanValentín, and also before had belonged to the Spanish Royal Family and José Bonaparte, a trajectory worthy of film that justified its sale for nine million euros.