Gem Lore

Chaumet & French Royalty: Imperial Jeweler

Chaumet & French Royalty: Imperial Jeweler

Chaumet is the oldest of the great Parisian jewelry houses and the most deeply embedded in French royal history, having served as the personal jeweler to Napoleon Bonaparte and Empress...

Chaumet & French Royalty: Imperial Jeweler

Chaumet is the oldest of the great Parisian jewelry houses and the most deeply embedded in French royal history, having served as the personal jeweler to Napoleon Bonaparte and Empress...

Cartier Paris jewelry house on Place Vendome, elegant diamond display, jeweler to kings

Cartier & French Royalty: Jeweler to Kings

Cartier rose from a small Paris workshop to become the jeweler of choice for royalty across Europe, earning the title jeweler of kings and king of jewelers through extraordinary craftsmanship...

Cartier & French Royalty: Jeweler to Kings

Cartier rose from a small Paris workshop to become the jeweler of choice for royalty across Europe, earning the title jeweler of kings and king of jewelers through extraordinary craftsmanship...

French Blue Diamond: Hope Diamond Predecessor

French Blue Diamond: Hope Diamond Predecessor

The French Blue Diamond — a 112-carat deep blue stone purchased by Louis XIV from Tavernier in 1668 — was the most spectacular colored diamond in the French Crown Jewels....

French Blue Diamond: Hope Diamond Predecessor

The French Blue Diamond — a 112-carat deep blue stone purchased by Louis XIV from Tavernier in 1668 — was the most spectacular colored diamond in the French Crown Jewels....

Sancy Diamond: French Royal History Guide

Sancy Diamond: French Royal History Guide

The Sancy Diamond — a 55.23-carat pale yellow pear-shaped stone — has one of the most adventurous histories of any gemstone, passing through the hands of French and English royalty,...

Sancy Diamond: French Royal History Guide

The Sancy Diamond — a 55.23-carat pale yellow pear-shaped stone — has one of the most adventurous histories of any gemstone, passing through the hands of French and English royalty,...

French Regent Diamond: Louvre's Famous Stone

French Regent Diamond: Louvre's Famous Stone

The Regent Diamond — a 140.64-carat cushion-cut diamond of extraordinary clarity — is the most significant surviving piece of the French Crown Jewels, with a history spanning from Indian mines...

French Regent Diamond: Louvre's Famous Stone

The Regent Diamond — a 140.64-carat cushion-cut diamond of extraordinary clarity — is the most significant surviving piece of the French Crown Jewels, with a history spanning from Indian mines...

Empress Eugénie's Jewelry: Second Empire Gems

Empress Eugénie's Jewelry: Second Empire Gems

Empress Eugénie, wife of Napoleon III, presided over the final and most spectacular flowering of the French Crown Jewels, assembling a personal collection and overseeing imperial pieces that represented the...

Empress Eugénie's Jewelry: Second Empire Gems

Empress Eugénie, wife of Napoleon III, presided over the final and most spectacular flowering of the French Crown Jewels, assembling a personal collection and overseeing imperial pieces that represented the...