Vincent thank you very much for your first hand comments regarding Dona Esperanza, I much apreciated them. I had always read that the queen had left the emeralds to her younger sister, I will add a note to my book with the correct information. Those stunning emeralds being sent to Brazil in a tin box, ohh thats a priceless anedote .
--Previous Message-- : : The emeralds jewels (brooch, : bracelet,pendant) were inherited by princess : Esperanza (not by her mother). She herself : told me so. The was one of the ween : godchild. I remember that Dom Pedro (her : husband) added that they had been sent to : Brazil at the time in a tin box, in order to : avoid taxes. : : They were given, by princess Esperanza to : her daughter, princess Maria da Gloria, who : sold them at auction at Sotheby's in 1981. : They were bought then by Gabrielle... And : sold again after her death. The brooch has : been sold twice since. : : However, Ursula is right about the choker. : The pendant consisting of an ovale cabochon : emerald and a drop is a part of this emerald : and diamond choker. I have no idea why this : choker is described as being made of : sapphires, but it is definitely emeralds. It : is mentioned and photographed in the : inventory of queen Amelia's jewels after her : death (Private papers of the Orléans family, : Archives nationales). : : As I said already, the emeralds and diamond : set given by the countess of Paris to her : daughter still exists. I wrote once, a very : long time ago (I think it was 1991) that it : had been sold by the Comte de Paris to a : south american millionaire. I was wrong at : the time. I see that error, mentioned all : the time when someone writes about that : parure. It was sold by the Comte de Paris, : but in Europe and it still is in Europe, : although it may have been divided. : : :