Here’s Your Chance to Try on Marie Antoinette’s Jewels

NEW YORK — For the first and probably only time ever, New Yorkers will have the opportunity to see, handle and even try on some of Marie Antoinette’s jewelry, which has never been displayed in the United States.

“I can’t imagine more important pieces coming to auction unless something from Queen Elizabeth I became available, and that’s not going to happen,” said Frank Everett, sales director of Sotheby’s Luxury and Lifestyle Division. “I don’t know what will ever match it again. I might have to retire.”

As part of an exhibit to showcase future auctions, they will be on display at Sotheby’s showroom in Manhattan through Tuesday.

The jewels were wrapped up and sneakily sent to Austria when Marie Antoinette was sent to prison and then beheaded in 1793. They have been passed down by family members who have kept them private until now.

“It’s an embarrassment of riches for us,” Everett said. “And what people don’t realize is that our exhibitions are open to the public. Everyone can come in and look at these pieces, and even try them on. It’s not intimidating in any way. It’s like walking into a store.”

Marie Antoinette’s jewels will be in good company; they will be joined by the diamonds and rubies of two New York socialites who basically represented the 20th-century U.S. version of royalty, Happy Rockefeller and Barbara Sinatra.

The former, who died in 2015, was the second wife of Nelson Rockefeller, vice president of the United States under Gerald Ford and the 49th governor of New York. She was known for her intoxicating charm and her busy social schedule.

Barbara Sinatra was the fourth (and final) wife of Frank. She was a model and an actress who never left her husband’s side, whether he was performing at the Waldorf Astoria or spending late nights at Patsy’s and P.J. Clarke’s. She died in the summer of 2017.

The jewelry on display is part of two auction previews taking place at Sotheby’s over the next few days. The auction for the Royal Jewels from the Bourbon Parma Family, which features the Antoinette items, will take place in Geneva on Nov. 14; and the New York Magnificent Jewels sale, taking place on Dec. 4 in New York, features the jewelry of Rockefeller and Sinatra.

For a few days, visitors to the Sotheby’s showroom will be able to try on Marie Antoinette’s stunning diamond pendant that holds a natural pearl so large, it pulls down clothing. (It is estimated at $1 million to $2 million.) Also on display are a diamond ring, with the queen’s initials, that still contains a lock of the queen’s hair ($20,000 to $50,000.) and a sparkling tiara ($350,000 to $550,000).

Visitors can also try on a necklace, lined with sapphires, emeralds and diamonds ($60,000 to $80,000), worn by Rockefeller while campaigning with her husband, or Sinatra’s ruby-and-diamond bracelet ($150,000 to $250,000).

Philippe Tremblay-Berberi, a filmmaker who lives in Brooklyn, attended a media preview recently and is planning on returning to Sotheby’s Saturday with his girlfriend.

“For me, it’s a historical interest,” he said. “They were the jewels of the last queen of France, basically. And they were carried to Austria and still there when her daughter showed up. They survived the guillotine.”

Everett said that New Yorkers have long held a fascination with Marie Antoinette’s jewelry. “In the 19th century, Charles Tiffany went to France and bought all the royal French jewels available then and sold them to the great ladies of NYC,” he said. “Americans had an appetite for anything royal. They wanted the titles; they wanted the jewels.”

He said the royal obsession is strong, thanks to the TV series “The Crown,” and former American actress Meghan Markle’s marriage to England’s Prince Harry. “Many American collectors will be very interested in these pieces,” he said. “We aren’t just showing them in New York City for fun.”

While the intrigue of handling jewels that once adorned a royal head that met the guillotine is hard to ignore, experiencing the retro glam of mid-20th century America should be entertaining for many New Yorkers, too.

“I think Marie Antoinette’s collection will definitely be the highlight, but as a New Yorker and a fan of the whole rat pack era, I’m looking forward to seeing the other pieces in real life,” said Marissa Cassinelli, a media strategist who is planning to see the jewels.

Perhaps Tremblay-Berberi put it best: “Just because I’m going to see Marie Antoinette’s jewelry doesn’t mean I am not going to look at anything else.”