A pair of original, unaltered diamond bracelets purchased by Marie Antoinette for 250,000 livres in 1776. The queen’s daughter, Marie-Thérèse Charlotte de France, wears what appear to be her mother’s diamond bracelets in this 1816 portrait by Antoine-Jean Gros [1290×1816]
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In 1791, as the French Revolution threatened to upend the monarchy, Marie Antoinette sent jewelry—enclosed in a wooden chest—to the former Austrian ambassador to France, Count Mercy-Argenteau, for safekeeping, believing that she’d eventually be exonerated and reunited with them. The couple’s daughter, Marie-Thérèse Charlotte de France, also known as “Madame Royale,” survived the revolution, outliving both her parents and her brother, the young Louis XVII. She was released in December 1795 and sent to Austria, where she took possession of her mother’s jewelry. An 1816 portrait of Marie-Thérèse shows the royal wearing a pair of bracelets consistent with the Brussels inventory. [Source](https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/marie-antoinettes-diamond-bracelets-are-going-up-for-auction-180978723/?itm_source=related-content&itm_medium=parsely-api)
For those interested; 250,000 livres would’ve equated 18.750 pounds sterling ([source](http://www.pierre-marteau.com/currency/converter/fra-eng.html)), equalling GBP 4.1 million today [source](https://www.in2013dollars.com/uk/inflation/1779?amount=18750)