It is difficult to confirm if this beautiful pair of earrings, now turned into a brooch, belonged to Empress Eugénie. The size and lustre of the pearls are beautiful, and the setting of the diamond caps on top of the pearls looks old, so they would certainly have not been considered out of their place in the Empress' collection. But of course, it is not enough to prove that they were effectively among her belongings.
What is sure is that these pearls were not part of the French Crown Jewels. The Crown's collection was thoroughly recorded throughout the years, from the 16th to the 19th century, and no grey or pink pearl was recorded in this Collection.
Empress Eugénie owned a huge collection of private jewels (either gifts from her husband Napoleon III, or personal purchases, or gifts from various civic bodies), from modest memorial jewels to splendid bejewelled parures. Because of her love for jewels and elegant dresses, she had even been nicknamed by the opposition press "Sa Majesté Falbala Ière" (litterally "Her Majesty 'Frills and Flounces' the First").
The "hand-written note that refers to [the pearls] as having belonged to Empress Eugenie" is pictured on Doyle's website:
The transcription reads the following: "History of Empress Eugenie's Black Pearls & Necklace Brought to this country by George Crocker. Kept by his wife & his daughter Mrs. Philip Kearny _ Emma Rutherford. These in possession of Henry R. Benjamin for his eldest daughter." With an additional notation in pencil: "Given to Dorothy R. Benjamin to wear on Xmas 1925 and hold until Anne R. B. is of age. HRB." A notation on the reverse states in ink: "Sometime must be put on top of box neck (necklace?) pearls in Guaranty Safe Deposit box 789. So careful of keys." And in a different hand, below the fold: "Roger". (Doyle's website - see link on top of this post - gives further details of the genealogy of these families)
So this hand-written note asserts that the pearls come from Empress Eugénie, but they unfortunately give no indication to prove this origin.
Interestingly, we can also notice that Forbes' article mentions that the pearls were "purchased" by Charles Crocker, and that Charles Crocker died in 1909. So, if the pearls belonged to Empress Eugénie, they must have been sold during the exiled Empress' lifetime, as she died only in 1920.
We know that Empress Eugénie sold some of her private jewels (but not all of them) after the overturn of the imperial regime in 1870, but there is little documentation about that. The biggest sale took place in London at Christie, Manson and Woods Ltd. in 1872, and its catalogue (without pictures nor prices) was reproduced in Bernard Morel's book Les Joyaux de la Couronne de France in 1988. In this list, I find no item which could match these grey/pink pearls, except maybe this one:
"36. A pair of earrings with large pink pearls, set in enamelled gold with brilliants".
I am not totally sure of the match, because the catalogue apparently does not indicate that the pink pearls in this pair of earrings are pear-shaped, whereas such an indication is given for other pearls sold in the auction in 1872. And the pearls are described as "pink", whereas the pearls sold at Doyle's in 2014 are described as "slightly brownish grey with a very subtle rosé overtone".
on October 29, 2014, 5:34 am, in reply to "
