Marie Antoinette ostensibly gave her precious pearls to a British countess to keep them in custody as the French queen was enslaved. Those pearls are today ready for auction at Christie’s International auction house in London.
The valuable ruby, diamond has been beautifully weaved into a necklace and is anticipated to fetch around $800,000. The auction is scheduled for 12 December. The pearls were delivered to Elizabeth Leveson-Gower, wife of the British ambassador to France during the French Revolution.
The necklace includes 21 graduated drop-shaped grey natural pearls, each suspended from an old-cut diamond culet surmount to the diamond ribbon that intertwines the ruby collar. The necklace has never been offered for sale before and the pearls have been in the same family for over 200 years.
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