Pasadena Magazine

February 2016 - Beauty, Love and Money

Pasadena Magazine is the bi-monthly magazine of Pasadena and its surrounding areas – the diverse, historically rich and culturally vibrant region that includes Glendale, the Eastside of Los Angeles and the San Gabriel Valley all the way to Claremont.

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diamonds introduced to the Mediterranean region. Until then diamonds occupied such an important position in Indian society that their export had been banned. India society was highly advanced for the time—it was a society that produced the philosophy of the Vedas and the Upanishads, and invented the wheel. That Indian tradition would acknowledge the occult powers of diamonds for thousands of years is a testament to the truly unique nature of the diamond among earthly materials, and its strange appeal to the human psyche. While India certainly understood a diamond's cleaving properties, and it's ultimate hardness, which allowed polishing only via another diamond, the stone's value was in its natural perfection. India had rich supplies of rubies and sapphires that could be cut and polished into gems, but the spiritual properties of a well shaped rough diamond made it far more valuable in its natural state. Until the 14th century, while diamonds were known in Europe they were expensive and rare. Expensive because they only came from India where they were highly valued and priced accordingly. And because Europe did not share India's mystical sensibilities, the rough stones, not being polished jewels, were far less valued on the continent, and thus imported infrequently. While the precise origins are unknown the knowledge that diamonds could be cut and polished came to Europe sometime in the 14th century. With the reopening of trade routes to the east diamonds on the continent went from exceedingly rare to simply relatively uncommon, and with their availability as a proper jewel became of interest to aristocrats and the ruling class as a symbol of wealth and power. Overtime as the economic center of Europe moved north from the Mediterranean, Diamond Revolution When Marie Antoinette was implicated in a scandal involving the church and a priceless diamond necklace, the flames of revolution were stoked ever higher. Marie Antoinette, already, at 18, possessed of an infamously immoral and extravagant reputation, ostensibly knew a thing a two about beauty, love and money when she became Queen of France in 1774 by marrying Louis XVI. A legendary beauty, she loved ostentatious displays and amorous intrigue. Two years earlier, her grandfather-in-law had commissioned a 2,800 carat diamond necklace. The two million livre cost, is the equivalent of $100 million today! Sadly, Louis XV died before the necklace was complete and he could present his love and mistress, Madame du Berry, with the extravagant gift. Marie Antoinette hated du Berry and, once she was queen, banished her from court. Meanwhile, the famous jeweler Boehmer, tried to sell his very expensive commission to the new king. Antoinette, however, haughtily refused to ever wear the necklace, intended as it originally was, for a mere courtesan. Citing the immense expense, King Louis XVI refused to pay the jeweler. The necklace soon became the subject of some intrigue, as another minor court denizen, the Countess de la Motte conspired to obtain the spectacular jewelry piece while further tarnishing Marie Antoinette's reputation at the same time. De la Motte went to Cardinal Rohan, the highest ranking member of the French clergy, and a man with an unrequited lust for the Queen. Over time she brought him several forged letters, purporting to be from Antoinette. The warm tone convinced the Cardinal he had a shot with the Queen and when de la Motte brought a letter asking the Cardinal to negotiate on the Queen's behalf for the necklace, he accepted the task. Always looking for ways to ingratiate himself with Antoinette, Rohan went to the jeweler with the forged letter and obtained the necklace, turning it over to de la Motte, who promptly sent it off to London to be broken up. The whole affair came to light when the jeweler went to the King looking to be paid, and the role that Cardinal Rohan and the courtesan de la Motte had played was exposed. While the King, and later historians, were inclined to believe Marie Antoinette was herself duped in the scheme, public opinion was already against her and the affair of the necklace—both its obscene extravagance, and the perfidy surrounding its creation—only served to inflame the masses further against Antoinette and the crown. While of course not the ultimate cause, the affair of the necklace was so symbolic of everything the French common man had against the aristocracy that it certainly helped stoke the flames of outrage that launched a revolution. The events of which soon changed the face of Europe forever… and left Marie Antoinette without need of a necklace of any sort. 58 FEBRUARY 2016 feature1_Feb16.indd 58 1/20/16 2:40 PM

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