page_title: French Crown Jewels
section_title: Use of the French crown jewels
hierarchical_section_title: French Crown Jewels / Use of the French crown jewels
caption_attribution_description: English: Crown of Dauphin Louis Antoine worn at the Coronation of King Charles X. Jean-Charles Cahier &#160;(1772&#8211;1857)&#160;&#160;DescriptionFrench goldsmithDate of birth/death 1772 17 October 1857Location of birth/death Soissons MarseilleWork location Paris (1801&#8211;1830)Authority control : Q62909316 SUDOC:&#8201;136545742 creator QS:P170,Q62909316 Original description: "COURONNE D'OR PORTEE PAR LE DUC D'ANGOULÈME AU SACRE DE CHARTES X Exécutée par Cahier, or fevre: de la Couronne Garde-Meuble national"
context_page_description: The French Crown Jewels comprise the crowns, orb, sceptres, diadems and jewels that were symbols of Royal power between 752 and 1825. These were worn by many Kings and Queens of France. The set was finally broken up, with most of it sold off in 1885 by the Third French Republic. The surviving French Crown Jewels, principally a set of historic crowns, diadems and parures, are mainly on display in the Galerie d'Apollon of the Louvre, France's premier museum and former royal palace, together with the Regent Diamond, the Sancy Diamond and the 105-carat Côte-de-Bretagne red spinel, carved into the form of a dragon. In addition, some gemstones and jewels are on display in the Treasury vault of the Mineralogy gallery in the National Museum of Natural History.
context_section_description: The Crown jewels comprise the instruments of the coronation, called the Regalia, and the jewels of the ruling family.
  Since Pepin the Short in 752, the accession of the King of France was legitimated by a coronation ceremony called a sacre, since the emphasis was on the unction with the chrism of the Holy Ampulla, performed for the first time at Notre-Dame de Reims in 816 for Louis the Pious, then with the Crown of Charlemagne. From 888 to 922, then 1027, all monarchs were crowned until the French revolution, in the Notre-Dame de Reims cathedral (apart from Louis VI and Henry IV, who were crowned in Orléans and Chartres). After the revolution, only Emperor Napoleon I, Empress Josephine and King Charles X were crowned. Though not always used, a set of expensive crown jewels did exist and was augmented by various monarchs.
  The Crown Jewels or Diamants de la Couronne de France, consisting of gemstones and jewellery, became unalienable by decision of Francis I on June 15, 1530. The Côte-de-Bretagne red spinel was then among the 8 main jewels. They suffered important loss by the Catholic League in 1590 but were reconstituted by Henry IV and greatly enhanced by Louis XIV, notably with the gift of the 18 Mazarin diamonds and the purchase of the 'Royal French Blue' and 'Ruspoli' sapphire, later followed in 1717 with the Regent Diamond. Under Louis XV, they were kept in the Garde Meuble de la Couronne (Royal Treasury) in one of the pavilions of the Place de la Concorde, where they suffered a theft in 1792 and a sale in 1795 after their partial recovery. In 1814, Napoleon I had restored the crown jewels to 65,072 stones and pearls, not including the personal jewels of both Empress Josephine and Empress Marie-Louise. Enhanced during the Restoration and again during the Second Empire, they counted 77,662 stones and pearls, comprising 51,403 brilliant cut diamonds, 21,119 rose cut diamonds, 2962 pearls, 507 rubies, 136 sapphires, 250 emeralds, 528 turquoises, 22 opals, 235 amethysts and 500 other stones, when they were sold in 1885 by the Third Republic. Nevertheless, as in 1793, an important set of stones and pearls was sent to the Muséum national d'histoire naturelle and some of the most important jewels were bought back since 1953, which makes the collection still number more than 11,000 stones and pearls.
  The Regalia, much lightly hit in 1590, were originally kept in the treasure of the Basilica of Saint Denis from where they were removed in 1793 during the French Revolution. Some few pieces of the treasure, considered to present an artistic value, were preserved and sent to the Louvre, which sold 9 of them in 1798, the National Library, the Natural History Museum, and the archbishops of Rouen (5 items) and Paris. The others, were sold in 1793 like the chalice and two cruets of Saint Denis, or dismantled and melted down in April 1794, like the Crown of Charlemagne and the ones of Saint Louis and the Queens, with the rest of the basilica treasure including the cross of Saint Eligius, the screen of Charlemagne, the gilded altar of Charles the Bald or the large reliquaries. The liturgical instruments kept in Reims suffered the same policy. The Regalia were restored or recreated for the coronation of Napoleon I, which at their turn suffered again partial destruction in 1819, and finally completed for the coronation of Charles X in 1825.
caption: Crown of the Dauphin, Louis Antoine, worn at the coronation of Charles X in 1825.
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