A set of pearls that once belonged to the last Queen of France, Marie Antoinette, are scheduled to be placed in auction in December. The pearls were originally given to a friend by an optimistic Antoinette who had hoped that she would be shortly reunited with her gems. Instead, the pearls ended up in England and the optimism of Marie Antoinette was short-lived as the fate of France came to a head.  

France’s last queen gave a bag of pearls and diamonds to Lady Sutherland, wife to an ambassador and friend of the French royal family. While Antoinette was imprisoned, Lady Sutherland arranged to have clothes and linen sent to the Queen. The gems were eventually reconfigured into a diamond, ruby and pearl necklace.   

Christie’s considers the provenance on the pearls to be as perfect as possible. The jewelry has remained in the Sutherland family for over 200 years since the Queen was guillotined. Christie’s did not say which one of Lady Sutherlands’ descendants are auctioning the gems.