Starting My Treasure Hunting In England

After adjusting the camera lens, Liang En and Jeanne began to open the boxes inside one by one. When the box was opened, the pile of things inside almost dazzled Liang En and the others.

The first thing to be taken out of the long box was a three-layer pearl necklace with a diamond clasp, composed of 119 natural pearls. Considering that there was no artificial pearl cultivation technology at that time.

Therefore, it is extremely rare to put together a string of more than a hundred pearls of almost the same size. According to Liang En's point of view, there is absolutely no problem in selling this string of antique pearl necklaces for three to four hundred thousand dollars.

And this pearl necklace was just an appetizer. As the boxes were opened, more jewelry appeared in front of Liang En, including necklaces, rings, crowns and brooches, which were basically diamond jewelry.

The most eye-catching piece of jewelry is a diamond pendant set with a large pearl. The size of the pearl is 26mm X 18mm. Liang En's preliminary estimate is US$2 million.

Of course, these jewelry are not only very precious raw materials, but also many ingenious designs are amazing, such as a diamond badge.

This badge consists of three parts. The top layer is a laurel wreath, the middle layer is a flame, and the lower layer is a golden sheep. This badge can be used as a whole, or it can be split into three independent pieces: the upper, middle and lower parts. brooch.

The same is true for the other two diamond crowns, all of which have a unified image of lilies. The reason why the lily pattern was chosen is because in Christian belief, lilies are the holiest flowers.

The lily above is detachable, and the lily alone is an exquisite brooch. There are pear-shaped diamonds and rose-shaped diamonds on the crown, which reflects the diamond cutting skills of the craftsmen at that time.

To be honest, those who can do this are masters of jewelry making. As a peer, Liang Enzhi can judge the level of these jewelry.

For example, this kind of modular jewelry that can be disassembled has relatively high requirements for the makers. Many jewelry craftsmen with insufficient skills often look good when the jewelry is used separately, but the combination is not harmonious enough.

But now Liang En and the others basically don't see any problems in this regard with the jewelry they found. From a certain perspective, only top craftsmen could do it in the era of handicraft industry.

To take the simplest example, assembling and fixing the parts of jewelry is a very difficult thing and not just any craftsman can do it, especially if it is purely handmade.

Things made by craftsmen with insufficient skills are either too loosely connected and can easily fall off automatically, or they are too tightly connected and cannot be pulled out, or even cause damage to the jewelry due to excessive force when the user takes it apart.

In addition to seeing the craftsmanship of the author of this piece of jewelry, Liang En was also able to confirm that these items were made in the mid-to-late 18th century, with a strong Rococo style.

That is to say, this is jewelry made during the Louis 15 or Louis 16 period, or the Napoleonic period. Joan of Arc carefully studied French history after coming here, so she quickly remembered that this corresponded to Which era.

Although in terms of jewelry production, jewelry after the Napoleonic era is called the Imperial period. The overall style of jewelry is colored gemstones as the main stone, surrounded by small diamonds as decoration, which is completely different from today's jewelry.

But considering that the style of jewelry cannot be changed very quickly. The style transformation of these jewelry does not change suddenly, so the scope of speculation about the age of this jewelry itself is naturally wider.

I think I know who the original owners of some jewelry are. Just when they were cleaning up a silver jewelry box containing three pieces of jewelry, Liang En picked up a diamond ring and said.

This is a diamond ring inlaid with small rose-shaped diamonds. It is not conspicuous among the large number of jewelry found this time, but the key lies in the cursive signature with capital letters MA on the ring.

This signature is actually the initials, and the full name behind it is Maria Antonia Josepha Johanna, or a more familiar name, Marie Antoinette.

A few years ago, Liang En once found a rabbit-shaped lock and saw a signature on that lock. Today, he once again found something related to the famous queen.

For people today. This queen is the most well-known among all French queens, because she is in a historical era, and many controversial things have happened to her.

If you study it carefully, you will see that the life of this queen was also full of ups and downs. In 1766, for political needs, the French royal family officially proposed to the 11-year-old Grand Duchess Maria Antonia (Marie Antoinette).

The Austrian court readily agreed. But due to various reasons, the wedding was delayed for several years.

It was not until 1770, when Marie Antoinette was 14 years old, that she finally set foot on French soil and became the crown princess of the French crown prince Louis-Auguste de Bourbon (later Louis XVI).

In 1774, Louis XV died and Louis XVI ascended the throne. Marie Antoinette became Queen of France, her mother-in-law was France. But it is a pity that she does not have the sense of responsibility and mission that a queen should have.

After entering the French court, Marie Antoinette made no political achievements. Every day she is just passionate about balls, fashion, fun, dressing up and celebrating, decorating the garden, and is extravagant, so she is known as the Deficit Lady.

However, after the French Revolution began, she unexpectedly showed the proud beauty and delicate dignity of a queen, showing herself to be more independent and stubborn than Louis XVI.

On July 14, 1789, when the masses stormed the Bastille, Marie Antoinette persuaded Louis XVI to take troops to take refuge in Metz. She supported the king and rejected the National Assembly's request to abolish the feudal system and limit royal power, and became a target of public criticism.

In October 1789, he moved back to Paris from the Palace of Versailles with Louis XVI and was under the surveillance of the revolutionary masses. She worked secretly and sought help from a group of exiled nobles.

But not only did they not help, they also added insult to injury. Everyone wanted to use the king's head in exchange for a ransom. This group of nobles included the king's younger brother, the Count of Provence (later Louis XVIII), and his younger brother, the Count of Artois (later Charles X).

The king and his wife were left without help, and forced by the situation, they had to plan their own escapes again and again. Queen Mary secretly escaped with the king in June 1791. They were discovered when they arrived in the border city of Wallen, and their escape attempt failed.

In 1792, France declared war on Austria. She continued to collude with Austria and provided combat plans to foreign intervention forces in an attempt to use external forces to suppress the revolution.

The revelation of the treason angered the French people, leading to a popular uprising in Paris on August 10, 1792, which completely overthrew the monarchy. She was subsequently imprisoned with the king at Temple Fort.

In October of the following year, he was handed over to the Revolutionary Court for trial, sentenced to death, and sent to the guillotine. He was 38 years old. After death, the bodies were thrown into mass graves and buried.

It was not until 22 years later that the Earl of Provence was restored as Louis XVIII, and her bones were exhumed and properly buried.

Now, what Liang En and the others found should be part of several batches of property sent by Queen Mary before her execution.