Feuilles de Groseillier brooch

On November 11, 2014, Christie's Geneva auctioned off the Feuilles de Groseillier brooch belonging to the last Empress of France.

Born into a Spanish noble family in 1826, Eugenie de Montijo married Napoleon III in 1853. As the Empress of France, she commissioned jeweler Alfred Bapst to make the brooch in 1855.

It's just one of 30 different "feuilles de groseilliers", or currant leaves, that made up the Empress' parure. As described by Christie's, it "features a cluster of three openwork currant leaves emanating from a larger cushion-shaped diamond and three detachable articulated pampilles set with old mine-cut diamonds".

In 1870, with the fall of the Second Empire, Eugenie and her husband abandoned France, leaving behind all their belongings. In 1887, the French government auctioned off all the left behind royal belongings and jewelry. The parure of 30 brooches was dismantled and sold separately. Tiffany & Co. bought this brooch as well as several other items. It's just one of 30 different "feuilles de groseilliers", or currant leaves, that made up the Empress' parure. As described by Christie's, it "features a cluster of three openwork currant leaves emanating from a larger cushion-shaped diamond and three detachable articulated pampilles set with old mine-cut diamonds".

In 1870, with the fall of the Second Empire, Eugenie and her husband abandoned France, leaving behind all their belongings. In 1887, the French government auctioned off all the left behind royal belongings and jewelry. The parure of 30 brooches was dismantled and sold separately. Tiffany & Co. bought this brooch as well as several other items.

In 1936, the brooch was purchased from Tiffany's as a farewell gift for the Spanish soprano singer Lucrezia Bori by the Metropolitan Opera of New York. Upon her death, Bori gifted the brooch back to the Met. 

Which brings us to Novermber 11, 2014, when Christie's sold the brooch for an astounding $2,365,700.