After the birth of Louis Joseph, Marie Antoinette’s son, a letter was delivered to the queen, written by Boehmer and Bassenge, the famed jewelers. The letter’s contents concerned a diamond necklace believed to have been purchased by the queen through the intermediary actions of cardinal de Rohan. Marie in truth felt only disdain for the cardinal, so the letter shocked her. the cardinal had flaunted libels about the queen during his time as the French ambassador to Vienna. The cardinal returned to Paris in 1777, and Marie Antoinette had snubbed him ever since.

The diamond necklace was originally commissioned by Louis XV for his mistress, the Comtesse du Barry. Marie had not shown any interest in the ostentatious piece, which consisted of large diamonds, arranged in elaborate festoons, pendants, and tassels. Marie had in fact rejected several offers from Boehmer and Bassenge to sell it to her.

The cardinal had been in a flustered frenzy to be in the queen’s good graces, and was tricked into buying the piece for Marie by Jeanne, the Comtesse de Lamotte – Valois, a swindler at odds with the queen. Jeanne was also Rohan’s mistress in 1783. Using forged documents from another lover, Lamotte – Valois persuaded the cardinal that she was a dear friend of Marie, and that Marie had commissioned her to obtain the necklace with the cardinal’s assistance.

The deceived Rohan met up with an impersonator of the queen who ordered him to buy the necklace to restore his special position. After the cardinal purchased the necklace, it ended up being disassembled by Jeanne’s husband so the diamonds could be sold to Grey and Jeffries, jewellers in London, and resold.

In the end, Rohan was acquitted, but he was stripped of titles and banished from court. The Lamottes were sentenced to life in prison and branded as thieves. Most of the blame fell on the queen herself, despite her lack of involvement in the situation, due to her public unpopularity. Marie Antoinette’s reputation never recovered after this incident, which was perhaps the intended result of the lies and thievery.

The continual exploitation of gemstone deposits, the development of contemporary mining technology, and the discovery of new sources have all resulted in the increased availability of an entire spectrum of gemstones. Diamonds are now sourced in quantity from African countries, Australia, Russia, and Canada, whereas they were once only found in India, Borneo, and Brazil.

Considering our choice of gemstones, today’s jewelers have to know a great deal about colors and sources of gemstones. The value and popularity of stones are determined by fashion, quality, and availability. Independent gemstone dealers, wholesalers, large retailers, auction houses, small stores, and markets are all important sources of jewelers’ materials. Needs and experience will decide which source is the most appropriate. Finding two matching gemstones for a pair of earrings, or finding several for a ring, could pose many difficulties. Gem variety or individual features such as color, size, and shape will come into question. Identification and certification by a gem laboratory is another option.

Gemstone dealers can be asked to source gemstones of a specific size or type in order to satisfy a customer’s request for a particular design. Some dealers specialize in knowledge of a particular area of the world known for production of a particular gemstone type. A buyer of rubies or sapphires may often deal with Thailand and Sri Lanka. Another buyer might only do business in Africa, in search of colored gemstones. Many dealers have a broader range, without the limitation of a specialty.

The source of a gemstone is no longer necessarily the determining factor in a stone’s color. Heat treatments and irradiation are commonly used to alter and enhance color. This allows marketable gemstones to be mined from sources once believed to be inferior. An ordinary ruby can now compete with the famous ‘pigeon’s blood’ red rubies of Myanmar (Burma), or the Sri Lankan cornflower-blue sapphires (Ceylon sapphires).