Princess Napoléon’s Diamond Necklace

Happy Birthday to Alix, Princess Napoléon, who celebrates her 100th Birthday today! The elegant French Aristocrat who married the Napoléonic Pretender and is the grandmother of the current Head of the House of Napoléon, Princess Napoléon wore some splendid jewels, which included this magnificent antique Diamond Necklace!

Sapphire Necklace Tiara | Diamond Necklace

A magnificent antique Diamond Necklace composed of large collet diamonds, with pear-shaped diamond pendants and a central diamond pendant, it must originate from the 1850s but is not dissimilar to the legendary Napoléon Diamond Necklace.

This magnificent interesting-sized diamond necklace with drop-sized diamonds that are scattered around the entire piece. In the central part, a rhombidal motif of which three diamonds are hanging in a drop. A pair of earrings of similar design accompany it.

The Diamond Necklace originates from the collection of Princess Maria Clotilde of Savoy, who married Prince Napoléon-Jérôme Bonaparte in 1859.

After Princess Maria Clotilde, the Diamond Necklace was passed along to her daughter-in-law, Princess Clémentine of Belgium who seems to have worn the Necklace when she married Prince Napoléon at the Castello di Moncalieri in 1909, and described it as coming from her mother-in-law in her inventory.

Next, the antique Diamond Necklace was notably worn by then Princess Napoléon for a Debutante Ball at the Palace of Versailles in 1961.

Princess Napoléon also wore the antique Diamond Necklace with the Sapphire and Diamond Tiara for a series of portraits taken for Paris March in the spring of 1968.

The heirloom Diamond Necklace was worn by the Princess Napoléon on a handful of occasions through the 1960s and 1970s, usually alongside the Sapphire and Diamond Tiara.

Unlike the Sapphire and Diamond Tiara/Necklace, Princess Napoléon was not pictured wearing the Diamond Necklace after the 1970s, and many assumed that the Necklace supplied the large Diamond which made the Engagement Ring given by the current Prince Napoléon to Countess Olympia von und zu Arco-Zinneberg. The Ring was dramatically stolen before being recovered just a few months before their wedding, and hopefully the antique Diamond Necklace will reappear again soon!