This tiara, created by Nitot et Fils, Paris, in 1810, was a wedding gift from Napoleon I to his new wife, the Empress Marie Louise. It was originally set with 79 emeralds and more than 1,000 diamonds, but after it was purchased by Van Cleef & Arpels from a descendant, due to pressure from clients and collectors the emeralds were removed and sold separately in many pieces of jewelry. It was ultimately reset with turquoises and purchased by Marjorie Merriweather Post in 1971 for the Smithsonian Institution in Washington. I think I’ll have to pay a visit to the National Museum of Natural History after the exhibit is over to get a better look at some of these priceless pieces.

This will probably be the last photo from the “Spectacular” jewelry exhibit, until we go back to the estate. There were many more incredible items on display that I simply couldn’t photograph, due to either limitations in using the iPhone or security. I thought about including some (much better) photos from the catalogue, but perhaps that would be cheating ;-).

‘Do not disturb -- resting,’ posted earlier: