cybertronian:The large pear-shaped diamonds in these earrings were originally set in a much older pa
cybertronian:The large pear-shaped diamonds in these earrings were originally set in a much older pair that belonged to Marie Antoinette. While the circumstances by which the earrings left her possession may never be known with certainty, it’s possible they were seized when she and her family were arrested during their disastrous attempt to escape Paris in 1791. However, the earrings appear to have stayed in the French Royal family. In 1853, as a wedding gift, Napoleon III gave Empress Eugenie a pair of earrings with large pear-shaped diamonds that are believed to have been the Marie Antoinette earrings. They have since passed through the hands of Grand Duchess Tatiana Yousupoff of Russia, Pierre Cartier, Harry Winston, and Marjorie Merriweather Post. Today the magnificent earrings are on display at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History. -- source link