Millions of Dollars: Sale of Diamond Bracelets Owned by the Queen of France

Christie’s auction house announced that it sold two diamond bracelets belonging to Queen Marie Antoinette of France at an auction on Tuesday for 7.46 million Swiss francs (8.18 million dollars), which is several times higher than pre-sale estimates. Rahul Kadakia, the international head of jewelry at Christie’s who managed the auction, stated that the bracelets remained with the family for nearly 200 years. The buyer made offers over the phone, and their identity was not disclosed. Alexandra Kinderman, a spokesperson for Christie’s, noted that the highest bid in the auction reached 6.2 million Swiss francs, but the final price, after commission, amounted to 7.46 million francs. Marie Antoinette, who sent a letter from her prison in the Tuileries in Paris stating that a wooden box containing jewels would be sent for safekeeping, was executed by guillotine in 1793. The auction house indicated that her daughter, Marie Thérèse, known as Madame Royale, received the jewels upon her arrival in Austria. Christie’s had stated prior to the auction that they expected the bracelets, which were owned by a European royal family, to fetch between two and four million dollars. The house also mentioned that a ruby and diamond ring requested by King Edward VIII from Cartier and given to his American wife Wallis Simpson for their first wedding anniversary did not find a buyer, with pre-sale estimates ranging between one and two million Swiss francs. (Dollar = 0.9120 Swiss franc).