IMPERIAL JEWELS

High jeweller Chaumet reveals its soul amid the splendour of Beijing’s Palace Museum with a glittering exhibition charting its illustrious 237 years of history, Charlene Co writes

The jewelled sword worn by Napoléon Bonaparte when he was crowned emperor of France in 1804 stands resplendent in an unlikely location at present—Beijing’s Forbidden City—on its first trip ever out of France. Adorned with the French crown jewels, including a magnificent 140-carat diamond from India’s Golconda mine, it is just one of 300 historic items on display until July 2 in Chaumet’s Imperial Splendours exhibition at the Palace Museum. The Consular Sword, also known as Napoléon I’s Coronation Sword, is displayed against an 1806 painting of the emperor in his coronation robes. The exhibition, brought together by Henri Loyrette, who was president of the Louvre for 12 years and director of the Musée d’Orsay for two decades, and Béatrice de Plinval, curator of Chaumet’s museum and archives for close to…

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Tatler Hong Kong (Digital) - 1 Issue, June 2017

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