In 1776 Marie Antoinette had been queen of France for two years and was already recognized as the queen of elegance and style. She couldn't resist jewels, especially diamonds. In the spring of 1776, she bought these two diamond bracelets for 250.000 lire, a huge sum for the time. According to Count Mercy-Argenteau, Austria's ambassador to France, they were paid partly in precious stones from the queen's collection and partly with funds the queen received from King Louis XVI. Recent discoveries by the jewelery historian Vincent Meylan show that in February 1777, in the personal papers of King Louis XVI, we read: "to the queen: deposit of 29.000 lire for the diamond bracelets she bought from Boehmer".
ESCAPE FROM FRANCE AND THE LEGACY OF DIAMONDS
Count Mercy-Argenteau left his post as ambassador of the Austrian Empire in France in 1790 and took up residence in Brussels. On January 11, 1791, he received a letter from Queen Marie Antoinette, then a prisoner in the Tuileries in Paris. She announced that a wooden box would be sent to him for safekeeping. Mercy-Argenteau kept it closed for a couple of years. On 16 October 1793 Marie Antoinette was guillotined and in February 1794 Emperor Francis II of Austria (1768-1835) ordered the opening of the chest in Brussels and the inventory. It read as “Article No. 6 – A pair of bracelets where three diamonds, with the largest set in the center, form two clothespins; the two clips act as clasps, each composed of four diamonds and 96 diamonds set in a collar”. Madame Royale (1778-1851), Marie Antoinette's surviving daughter, received these jewels in January 1796 upon her arrival in Austria.
