An exhibition of over 130 jewels opens today at the Hotel de La Marine in Paris, the 1758 palace which runs along the north-eastern side of Place de la Concorde. Many of the exceptional objects are on show in the city for the first time.
Dynastic Jewels demonstrates the role of glittering gems—Catherine the Great’s brooch, Queen Victoria’s tiara—in the presentation and politics of power, through pieces that date primarily from 1800 to 1920. It also celebrates their role in affairs of the heart—the besotted Prince Albert personally designed the diamond and sapphire coronet he gave to Victoria in 1840.
However, in a fitting representation of the desirability and fragility of precious stones and their histories, three major pieces are missing from the presentation. An 1853 pearl and diamond tiara and two sets of pearl earrings, belonging to the French Empresses Eugenie and Josephine respectively, were among the irreplaceable treasures snatched from the Louvre Museum in October this year. The jewels were due to feature in the exhibition and even appear in its catalogue.
Sixty major works have been lent to the show by London’s Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A), where the exhibition’s curator, Emma Edwards, is based. However, nearly as many come from the collection of Qatar’s ruling Al Thani family, in whose galleries at the Hotel de La Marine they are being shown. The Al Thanis have rented 400m2 of the hotel’s space from the Centre des Monuments Nationaux (CMN), at a cost of €1m per year on a 20-year contract, since 2021.
Corsage Brooch of Princess Mathilde Mellerio, also known as Meller, Paris, c. 1864
© The Al Thani Collection, 2018. All rights reserved. Photograph by Prudence Cuming Associates Ltd
The exhibition details how the prestige of ownership of jewels passes from individual rulers—such as Catherine the Great and then Napoleon Bonaparte—to aristocratic European families, before landing in the hands of rich American industrialists. Grace Vanderbilt, for instance, was very proud of her Rose brooch made for Princess Mathilde Bonaparte in 1864. As a conclusion of this narrative, many, it seems, now rest in the Al Thani’s hands.
Sheikh Hamad bin Abdullah Al Thani, who is a special cultural advisor to The Al Thani Collection Foundation and a high-profile collector in his own right, “has been involved in the exhibition every step of the way”, says collection’s director, Amin Jaffer. “He has a great love of objects and the family’s collection,” Jaffer continues. “Just yesterday, he asked us to adjust the lighting.”
The cost of staging Dynastic Jewels is undisclosed. However, the carefully conceived, bullet-proof vitrines that surround many objects, alongside the faultless staging and lighting, suggest it to be a sum more easily afforded by the Al Thani collection than by most national institutions.
- Dynastic Jewels is at Hotel de la Marine, Paris, until 6 April 2026
