[jennifer]

have you seen this famous pearl?


(edit by Caitlin: I decided to combine the threads on this object.)

[Zeide Erskine]

Hi Jennifer,

The focal drop is La Regente. It apparently has now been reset in a Boucheron necklace or another design that has a boucheron necklace recycled in the bottom swag.

Zeide

[Caitlin]

Hi jennifer
Is that your photo? - or can you post a link to it and the credits?

What do you know about the necklace? Who wore it?

[Zeide Erskine]

Hi Caitlin,
Here's a link to La Regente (http://www.royal-magazin.de/french/J...la-coronne.htm) its bilingual with the English at the bottom.

La Regente - One of the largest pearls in the world
This name was bestowed upon a big, ovate pearl which was in the collection of the French crown jewels. This pearl, which weighs 337 grains, was furnished in November, 1811, by the court jewelers, Messrs. Noitat, for a tiara, worn by Marie Louise, Empress of France.
By order of the emperor, Napoleon III, the pearl was taken out of the tiara and mounted in August 1853, the French Crown Jewels were substantially remodeled - by the Paris jeweler Lemounier into a brooch, see the picture above. The remodeled Crown Jewels are also displayed at the world exhibition at Paris.

Empress Eugenie, consort to Napoleon III, was the most stylish and trend setting woman of her time. The Empress’s love of pearls is well documented. She owned in particular a beautiful strand of natural Tahitian pearls seen in one of her portraits, the famous Peregrina pearl for a brief period, and finally the “Queen Pearl”, a record setting natural freshwater pearl which was named after her. The “Queen pearl” weighed 4.65 grams and had originally been found by a carpenter Mr Jacob Quackenbush in New Jersey. He sold it for $1500 to Charles Tiffany who sent it to a Paris gem dealer where Empress Eugenie bought it for an undisclosed sum.


This large brooch or stomacher, with "La Regente" the central gem, was bought by Faberge in 1887 for the Princess Youssoupoff at the " Vente de Diamantes de la Couronne" after following the fall of the Second Empire.

source: Kunz Book of pearl

And here's a news article about its latest auction sale http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main...8/ixworld.html

Napoleon's pearl sells for record £1.6m at auction
By Alexandra Williams in Geneva
Last Updated: 12:36am GMT 19/11/2005
The fifth largest pearl in the world has become the most expensive in history after being sold at auction for almost £1.6 million.
Napoleon bought the pearl for his wife's tiaraKnown as La Regente, the pearl, above, was bought by Napoleon Bonaparte for his second wife, Marie Louise.
Its sale from a Middle East family to an anonymous buyer in Geneva produced the third record for Christie's this week.
A gold Patek Philippe pocket watch became the most expensive watch in history when it sold for £1.1 million and a jewelled crown achieved £3.5 million.
Napoleon bought the pearl in 1811 for his wife's tiara. Eric Valdieu, director of Christie's Switzerland, said: "We would never have achieved the price for the pearl if it had not had Napoleonic provenance."
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Publishers wishing to reproduce photographs on this page should phone 44 (0) 207 538 7505 or e-mail syndication@telegraph.co.uk

Zeide

[shinju]

I am totally awestruck and not just by the "bling"!!

At 06,07 a picture of a "necklace" is posted on the forum.
At 06,23 the item has been identified and explained in considerable detail.
At 06,37 a wealth of related information in three world languages is posted with references for further reading.

I have seen some fabulous photos on the forum but I have sort of happened upon them and then I forget where they were. I'm barely computer literate but I imagine one could create some kind of folder with forum photos/post references or does the forum have a "photo folder" facility that I haven't discovered?

[Zeide Erskine]

Hi Shinju,

I keep the image reference data base in my brain. If I had caught it faster after posting, I would have responded faster.

Zeide

[Zeide Erskine]

Hi Caitlin,

This collier is brand new. The parts are of various ages but have only been put together in this form weeks or months ago. The bottom swag is 1889 Boucheron, the diamond cap on La Regente is 1811, and the sapphire pieces look awfully familiar from the French crown jewels, too, but the pearl brooch looks definitely Fabergé. I think Michael of Greece would know the history and current location of them. MICHAEL!!! ARE YOU LURKING?


Zeide

Here is the newest auction report from Christies that explains where the sapphire pieces etc.. come from:

http://www.diamonds.net/news/newsite...=all&topic=all

They were part of a remarkable private collection that included La Regente, the crown and a dazzling sapphire and diamond corsage ornament. This latter lot was sold to a group of New York dealers for $1,653,960. The 18 diamonds, ten large and 20 smaller Ceylon and Burma sapphires should be out of the mounting by the time this article is published. This group was one of several small but important collections in the sale.

[Caitlin]

Wow! This is a live wire! New!

This necklace is a whole safe deposit box in one piece. I think it needs a tall person to wear it or they won't be able to sit down without crunching it. Teasing aside, it is an awesome reconfiguration.
I can't make out what the photo says in the lower right corner.

[Zeide Erskine]

Hi Caitlin,

What I found most fascinating was that the five-strand Boucheron necklace, the sapphire corsage ornaments and La Regenté were sold to different private individuals at mindboggling prices and here we see them assembled into a new piece apparently owned by just one person. That peeks my curiosity. Jennifer, whoever you are, I really would love to see your collection. Not to mention that the big round pearl in the center of the left (right in the photo) assemblage is a dead ringer for La Reine des Perles which was allegedly lost long ago.

Zeide

[Caitlin]

What I found most fascinating was that the five-strand Boucheron necklace, the sapphire corsage ornaments and La Regenté were sold to different private individuals at mindboggling prices and here we see them assembled into a new piece apparently owned by just one person.

No, Zeide
The previous article you posted clearly said that a group of NY jewelrs bought it for over $1,600,000.

The mystery is who did assemble it in the first place. That information needs to be part of the public record on that piece. IMHO

[Zeide Erskine]

Hi Jennifer,

If Christies says the Jay Gould rope is identical to the Cartier pearls, they are wrong. The picture you posted shows Edith Kingdon who married industrialist George Jay Gould in 1886 and Tiffany dubbed the piece "The Million Dollar Pearls" but Maisie Plant's necklace is a double strand of 16 and 18 inches graduated from 9-12mm of slightly cream oriental pearls of fine water, mirror and orient. The Jay Gould necklace is a reassortment of pearls from various previous pieces.

Zeide

[Caitlin]

Zeide
Before this whole thread has to come down for lack of links, do you know anything about the drop pearl on Edith's gown?

[Zeide Erskine]

Hi Caitlin,

This brooch is not one of the so-called "important" pieces so I don't have any independent history for it. These minor pieces typically either stay in the family or get taken apart and redesigned. Only major crown jewels tend to stay safe from that fate.

I was actually quite shocked about what they did to La Regenté. The piece now looks fit for a drag queen. Actually, Chablis from the Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil comes to mind.

Zeide

[Caitlin]

Chablis is too skinny. Queen Latifah could have worn it in "Chicago" at the opening nite climax scene. She has the ample bosom it requires. Or did have.

Shades of Veblen, what is this world coming to, a second gilded age? We are going to have to dust off "conspicuous consumption" and other such terms

[Zeide Erskine]

Hi Caitlin,

I don't think Thorstein Veblen's concept of conspicuous consumption applies that much to jewels. They are inherently useful symbols of excellence.

Zeide