Part of the fabulous collection of the kings of France, which was dismantled in the 19th century, is once again glittering at the Louvre’s newly refurbished Apollo Gallery. Here’s a look back at their rocky history.
Côte de Bretagne, red spinel, cut by Jacques Guay in 1750. RMN - Grand Palais (Musée du Louvre)/Mathieu Rabeau
A visitor could gaze for hours at the Côte de Bretagne , a 107-carat, dragon-shaped red spinel, if he could ignore the crowd in the Apollo Gallery, where 22 other historical jewels and hard stone objects collected by King Louis XIV (1643-1715) are on display. This stone alone embodies the incredible epic of the "Crown Diamonds" and milestones in the history of France with its share of treason and revenge, low blows and hard knocks. The Côte de Bretagne has seen it all: pawned, bought back, missing, cut by Louis XV into a dragon’s shape, causing it to shed a good hundred carats. However, this fascinating stone escaped the worst: the great sale of 1887. That this jewel from the distant 15 th…
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