The French Crown Jewels

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Bernard Morel

Fonds Mercator, Antwerp, 1988, English

Nonfiction, Jewelry Design

ISBN: 9789061531883

History of the gems collected by French royal houses of Valois and Bourbon, including the Hope Diamond.

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Marion Fasel

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There is a lot of drama, as one might expect, in the history of the French crown jewels. This exhaustively researched publication covers it all, including the sale of the collection. Members of the Third Republic believed any family who had worn the jewels might suddenly claim them—and the political power they represented—if the jewels remained in the French treasury. American jewelry kingpin Charles Lewis Tiffany bought most of the French jewels for his Gilded Age clients.

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