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

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 in Beijing. 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 40 years, spans the history of the jewellery house from the latter part of the 18th century into the 21st century. It features both heritage and recent high jewellery pieces from the luxury maison, sketches and portraits of the house’s most iconic and prominent clients from its 237-year history, and items belonging to the Palace Museum.