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A faithful reproduction of the most scandalous jewel of the French monarchy resurfaces at Artcurial, ready to captivate collectors and historians alike.
On June 17–18, Artcurial’s Furniture & Works of Art department will auction a jewel unlike any other – not for its intrinsic value, but for the storm of history it conjures. This is the oldest and most faithful known replica of Marie Antoinette’s necklace, the centrepiece of the legendary 18th-century swindle that helped unravel the French monarchy.
Crafted between the late 19th and early 20th centuries and closely mirroring the annotated design held by the Bibliothèque Nationale de France, this shimmering creation contains imitation stones set in silver and metal alloy. While its materials are modest, the power it holds is immense: a mirror of myth, scandal, and royalty’s fall from grace.
The Necklace That Never Was
The original necklace was never worn by Marie Antoinette. In fact, it was never even intended for her. Commissioned by Louis XV for his favourite, Madame du Barry, the necklace – lavishly composed of nearly 650 diamonds weighing 2,842 carats – remained unfinished when the King died in 1774. Its creators, the court jewellers Böhmer and Bassenge, found themselves with a magnificent jewel and no patron.
Their hope that Louis XVI or Marie Antoinette might take interest ended in failure. As France turned its resources to war and its court to austerity, such extravagance had no place. But the necklace’s fate took a darker turn.
A Scandal Fit for a Throne
In 1784, ten years after the necklace’s creation, Jeanne de La Motte, a disgraced countess with courtly connections and bold ambition, executed one of history’s most audacious deceptions. Exploiting the vanity and desperation of Cardinal de Rohan, Jeanne convinced him that the Queen secretly wished to buy the necklace. Through forged letters and even a night-time meeting with a lookalike, she orchestrated a fraud of theatrical proportions.
Rohan, eager to regain favour with Marie Antoinette, purchased the necklace on her supposed behalf. Jeanne took possession of it – only to have it dismantled and the diamonds sold abroad.
When the truth surfaced in 1785, the scandal engulfed Versailles. Though the Queen was completely innocent, public perception had already turned. The affair painted her as a symbol of decadence and deception – an image that would haunt her to the guillotine.
A Legacy Reconstructed
The replica now offered at Artcurial was created decades later, most likely by descendants of the original jewellers themselves. Passed down through the family of Lucien Baszanger, a renowned Geneva jeweller and descendant of Bassenge, the piece remained in private hands until now.
What makes this replica even more poignant is its familial provenance. The necklace has lived quietly within a lineage intimately tied to its original creators – transforming it from an object of replication into a vessel of legacy. It is, in a sense, a family heirloom of a scandal.
Jewels That Speak
Set in silver and metal alloy, and adorned with imitation stones on paillon, designed “en esclavage”, the necklace mimics the grandeur of the original in dazzling detail. Its design features a rivière outlined with three festoons, substantial pear-shaped drops, and a long garland with a floral motif at its centre. The finishing touch? Ribbon-tied drops cascading with piriform and round stones, elegantly framed in a Louis XV carved and gilded wooden frame.
Estimate: €30,000 – 50,000
Though it does not contain a single diamond, its silhouette alone evokes the opulence of a vanished world.
The Other Two Replicas
Of the three known replicas of the Queen’s necklace in existence, the piece at Artcurial is believed to be the oldest and most faithful to the 18th-century model. A second example, now housed at the Château de Versailles, was created in the 1960s by Albert Guérin of the Maison Burma, under Paulette Laubie’s direction.
The third, kept at the Château de Breteuil, dates to the 1980s.
None of the others carry the same emotional weight and provenance as the Baszanger piece – nor have they travelled through history quite so publicly.
The Necklace on Screen
This necklace has not only survived through generations, but also performed on screen. In 1946, it was worn by actress Viviane Romance in L’Affaire du Collier de la Reine, directed by Marcel L’Herbier. Through cinema, the necklace became more than a replica: it became a character in the retelling of an affair that still fascinates historians, playwrights, and jewellers alike.
It also featured in the 1955 film Marie-Antoinette, Reine de France, and was exhibited at the Château de Versailles that same year. More recently, it was on display at the Fine Arts Biennale in Paris in 2023.
The Echoes of History
Artcurial estimates the necklace between €30,000 and €50,000. But for connoisseurs of history and jewellery alike, its value is far less tangible and far more profound. It is the material echo of an immaterial truth – of how jewels, beyond their brilliance, can shape the fate of queens and kingdoms.
Jewels often speak of power, beauty, and privilege – but sometimes, they whisper of downfall. This necklace, a ghost of a jewel that never belonged to the Queen, remains one of the most potent emblems of how illusion and ornament can shift the course of history.
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