We have some exciting jewellery news! The Anglesey Diamond Négligé going on Auction at Sotheby’s in Geneva in November. An heirloom of the Marquesses of Anglesey for over a century and a half, it is believed that the Négligé may be a part of the legendary Collier de La Reine at the heart of the ‘Affair of the Diamond Necklace’ and the subsequent French Revolution.
Anglesey Tiara | Anglesey Diamond Négligé
The magnificent Diamond Negligee is composed of three rows of diamonds, one row of fifty-five, one of fifty-six and another of fifty-eight diamonds in collet setting, with diamond tassel terminals- circa 1800.
It is now thought that the Diamond Négligé may be a part of the legendary Collier de La Reine, which was stolen from the Palace of Versailles in 1785 after Queen Marie Antoinette refused to buy it, yet the subsequent ‘Affair of the Diamond Necklace’ tarnished the Queen’s reputation and was among the scandals that led to the French Revolution.
The Diamonds from the Collier de La Reine were sold off by the Comte de La Motte to an English jeweller, William Gray, in London, and some are believed to have been used to create the magnificent Sutherland Diamond Rivière. When the then Duchess of Sutherland wore the Diamond Rivière for a Ball in 1946, Sir Henry ‘Chips’ Channon wrote:
Clare looked young, was wearing Marie Antoinette’s famous diamond necklace, or at least two ropes of it. (The rest, according to history, was broken up before the French Revolution but I believe the Anglesey diamond tassels, which Marjorie Anglesey sometimes wears, are a part of it.)
It is not known when exactly the Diamond Négligé was acquired by the Marquesses of Anglesey, but in 1937, it was worn by the 6th Marchioness of Anglesey with the Anglesey Tiara in a series of portraits taken by Cecil Beaton around the Coronation of King George VI in 1937.
The Diamond Négligé, knotted around the neck, and the Anglesey Tiara were later worn by the 7th Marchioness of Anglesey, also known as the author and writer Dame Shirley Paget, at the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II at Westminster Abbey in 1953.
The Anglesey Diamond Négligé was later displayed at the ‘Ageless Diamond’ Exhibit at Christie’s in 1959, along with Queen Alexandra’s Kokoshnik Tiara, The Cullinan Diamonds, the Queen’s South African Diamonds, the Northumberland Clover Coronet, the Sutherland Diamond Rivière, Londonderry Tiara and Londonderry Diamond Stomacher, and the Spencer Diamond Rivière.
The family finances have been in decline since the days of the 5th Marquess of Anglesey. The main family seat of Beaudesert and the London residence were abandoned and sold after the First World War, while the Welsh seat of Plas Newydd was acquired by the National Trust in 1976. Around that time, the Anglesey Diamond Négligé was sold off, as described by Diana Scarisbrick in Ancestral Jewels – Treasures of Britain’s Aristocracy:
Until recently the Marquess of Anglesey owned an unusual diamond necklace called a negligeé. The three rows of stones were not fastened by a clasp but ended in twin tassels. It can be seen thrown round the neck of the Marchioness of Anglesey in a photograph by Cecil Beaton taken at the time of the coronation of 1937, and was lent to the Ageless Diamond exhibition held at Christie’s in 1959: it is no longer in the family.
The Anglesey Tiara remained with the Marquesses of Anglesey until 2019, when it was acquired by Hancocks, where it remains, though the Tiara did go on display at ‘Power & Image: Royal & Aristocratic Tiaras’ at Sotheby’s in London in 2022.
Now, after almost 50 years, the Anglesey Diamond Négligé is going on auction at the Sotheby’s Royal & Noble Jewels Sale in Geneva in November, with an Estimate of 1,600,000 – 2,400,000 CHF. The Diamond Négligé is going on display at Sotheby’s in London from the 25th of September.
Designed as a pair of old cushion-shaped diamond tassels connected by three rows of collet-set old cushion-shaped and circular-cut diamonds, length approximately 670mm, fitted case.
Anglesey Tiara | Anglesey Diamond Négligé
Anglesey Tiara
Anglesey Diamond Négligé
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