Mellerio unveils Marie Antoinette-inspired $1 million "Jardin des Rêves" necklace

Mellerio unveils Marie Antoinette-inspired $1 million "Jardin des Rêves" necklace

In July 2023, the renowned jewelry house Mellerio unveiled a unique necklace called "Jardin des Rêves," or "Garden of Dreams." This necklace was the vision of the house's president and artistic director, Laure-Isabelle Mellerio, after she visited Marie Antoinette's private rooms at the Palace of Versailles following five years of extensive renovations.

Mrs. Mellerio, a fourteenth-generation descendant of the family that founded the house in 1613, recalled, "I discovered the queen's small apartment and thought it would be nice to design a necklace." The necklace was unveiled during a private dinner at Versailles on July 2.

A necklace inspired by royal elegance and a pineapple motif

The necklace, crafted in 18-karat gold, features 14 gemstones, including aquamarines, rubellites, tanzanites, imperial topazes, sapphires, and tourmalines, totaling 172 carats. A 1-carat Millario-cut diamond dangles from the center of the necklace, from which a pineapple-shaped pendant hangs. This jeweled gold pendant can be detached and worn as earrings.

The pineapple design is a nod to the pineapple-patterned wallpaper in the Queen's chambers, evoking a time when pineapples were considered a tropical fruit symbol of wealth and exoticism.

Inspired by Marie Antoinette's "colorful" taste

Christophe Maillard, Millario's managing director, said the house was inspired by the extravagant style of the queen, who was executed during the French Revolution. "Her personal taste was very colorful in terms of textiles and silks," Millard explained. "It's amazing, when you think that Versailles was so huge, but her private apartments were so small and intimate. On the walls and in front of the windows are beautiful textiles in a wonderful mix of colors, like a garden, paying homage to a delicious and enormous fruit, the pineapple, which in the 18th century was considered the king of fruits."

Millard added, "We thought it would be very exciting to try to translate her personal taste into a piece of jewelry."

A $1 Million Masterpiece and a Tribute to a 'First Fashion Icon'

Millard, who was one of the first jewelers to settle in Paris's Place Vendôme district, now a hub for high-end jewelry brands, spent about a year crafting the necklace in her workshops there. It is valued at "around $1 million," according to Millard.

Frank Everett, deputy chairman of jewelry at Sotheby's, which auctioned a selection of Marie Antoinette's jewels in 2018, commented that Millario's raucous "ode" to the queen was a fitting tribute.

"She (Marie Antoinette) was the ultimate fashion icon," Everett said. "The opulence of the time was evident in Marie Antoinette's style, but she always brought a very feminine and elegant touch to things. She never looked over-the-top. She looked rich—that's the point—but it was beautifully curated."