Napoleon Diamond Necklace

The Napoleon Diamond Necklace is a diamond necklace commissioned by Napoleon I of France c. 1811–1812. It is currently on display in the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., United States.

The Napoleon Diamond Necklace consists of 28 mine cut diamonds set into a single thread, with a fringe of alternating pendeloque and briolettes diamond cuts. The five pear-shaped pendoloques are each mounted below a small brilliant cut diamond. The four ovaline pendeloques are mounted above designs which incorporate 23 brilliant cut diamonds each. Each briolette mounting is set with 12 rose cut diamonds.

While the gems of the Napoleon Diamond Necklace have never been professionally graded by a lapidary (as they have never been removed from their mountings), infrared spectroscopic analysis of the diamonds has shown that they are primarily Type Ia. However, 13 of the 52 largest diamonds in the necklace are of the rare Type IIa variety. A number of the Type Ia diamonds show indications of sulfide crystal imperfections.

In 1810, Napoleon I of France divorced the Empress Joséphine, as she proved to be incapable of producing an heir. He re-married two months later to Archduchess Marie Louise of Austria. Within a year, Marie Louise bore a son. To celebrate, in June 1811 Napoleon I commissioned the Napoleon Diamond Necklace from the Parisian jewellery firm Nitot et Fils, at a cost of 376,274 French francs. This sum was the equivalent of the Empress's entire annual household budget. There are several contemporary portraits of Marie Louise wearing the Napoleon Diamond Necklace, including a number by the artists François Gérard and Giovan Battista Borghesi. Several years later, in 1815, Napoleon was exiled to Saint Helena. Marie Louise returned to Austria with the necklace and owned it until her death.

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