GEMMOLOGICAL AND SPECTROSCOPIC STUDY WITH MOBILE INSTRUMENTS OF THE “EMERALDS” FROM THE FRENCH CROWN JEWELS

Abstract

International audienceRare are the scientific studies on gemstones from the French Crown Jewels, for the good reason that most of them were sold away by the French Third Republic in 1887, to get rid of this symbol of Royalty and Empire. Some unset stones were however put aside from the big sell, and given to some French museums, including the French Natural History Museum, the Louvre, and the Paris School of Mines. Some jewels have been bought back since the late 20 th by the Louvre, but mostly, the Crown Jewels are still spread out around the world. This paper is part of an ongoing project on the study of the French Crown Jewels owned the Paris School of Mines since 1887, in collaboration with the French Gemmological Laboratory (LFG). As this National Treasure is security sensitive, the project had to be conducted on site at the MINES Paristech Mineralogy Museum, using portable analytical instruments. In this first study, we are presenting the results acquired on some green coloured gems that used to be part of the coronation Crown of Napoleon III