Editor’s Note
This article recounts the dramatic escape of Empress Eugénie from revolutionary Paris in 1870, focusing on a single, invaluable heirloom that secured her passage to safety. It is a vivid glimpse into a pivotal historical moment through the lens of a personal treasure.
The reign of French Emperor Napoleon III was nearing its end with defeat in the Franco-Prussian War and the emperor himself taken prisoner. In 1870, an angry mob shouting to overthrow the empire surged into the Tuileries Palace in Paris. Empress Eugénie trembled, recalling the tragedy of Marie Antoinette.
Fleeing the palace with only the clothes on her back, Eugénie traveled day and night towards the port. Her only possessions were two handkerchiefs and a blue sapphire pendant passed down through the Napoleon family. It is said that the empress, who barely escaped to Britain by yacht, gave the pendant to the yacht’s owner.
Jewelry has helped many people and served as a lifeline during times of great societal upheaval. Only high-quality jewelry could provide such aid. So, what constitutes valuable jewelry?
The first value of jewelry is its “value as a gemstone.” Natural gemstones that are extremely beautiful and produced in very small quantities are in high demand. Items that many people passionately desire but of which only a handful exist naturally increase in value.
For example, “The Sakura,” the largest purple-pink diamond ever to appear at auction, which debuted at a Christie’s sale in 2021, sold for approximately 3.78 billion yen, making headlines. Its natural vivid color without human intervention, high transparency, and exceptional size of over 15 carats drove up the price.
The second value is the “value of craftsmanship.” Like traditional crafts, the superlative skill of master artisans carries artistic value. Micro-arts such as engraving, metal forging, gem carving, and stone setting perfectly enhance the beauty of gems the more delicate they are.
The third value is “design value.” This could be likened to a painter being tested on expressiveness or an architect being required to create excellent spatial composition.
Every jeweler has iconic representative motifs, and legendary motifs that are instantly recognizable as belonging to a particular jeweler are also highly popular. These lead to the fourth value: “brand value.”
Although not yet a common term in Japan, so-called brand-name high jewelry is called “signed pieces” in English. Meaning items bearing the maker’s signature, signed pieces by famous jewelers indeed hold value.
And the fifth value is “historical value.” Marie Antoinette’s bracelet, which appeared at a Christie’s Geneva auction, is a good example. This bracelet was one of the jewels secretly sent separately to Belgium when the royal family attempted to flee abroad. The jewels reached Belgium, but the royal family was captured by revolutionaries just before the border. This bracelet, imbued with the drama of the royal family’s glory and downfall, sold for approximately 980 million yen.
Jewelry possessing these five values is worthy of being owned as an asset, just like paintings or crafts. However, this is not to say it’s ideal for investment simply because price appreciation can be expected.
As jewelry is worn and cherished, it becomes imbued with the owner’s sentiments. This can be called the sixth value: “emotional value.” When this is present, jewelry transforms into an asset that surpasses paintings and crafts.