“Let them eat cake!” Whether or not Marie Antoinette truly uttered these infamous words, they have come to symbolize the extraordinary opulence of her life.
As Queen of France, her world was one of marbled palaces, lavish gowns, and glittering jewels, culminating in possessions so exquisite they continue to captivate centuries later.
Marie Antoinette’s possessions regularly smash records when they go up for auction, and not just because of their historical significance. As the daughter of Holy Roman Emperor Francis I and wife of French King Louis XVI, Antoinette’s clothing and jewelry were designed by the finest craftsmen and made from the most expensive materials.
Her three-strand pearl necklace, made up of 119 saltwater and freshwater pearls, sold for $2.2 million, while one of her many collections of diamonds went under the hammer for $9.3 million. One of her most cherished possessions, a pendant, raised a mind-boggling $36 million when Sotheby’s put it up for sale.
However, these items pale in comparison to her long-lost watch. Soon on display at the Science Museum in London as part of their “Versailles: Science and Splendour” exhibition, which explores scientific innovations sponsored by the French royal court, the No. 160 Marie Antoinette—as this timepiece is now referred to—fits the late queen’s exuberant style, sporting decorations of sapphire, platinum, ruby, and gold, as well as a crystal dial.
The No. 160 Marie Antoinette in all its glory. Photo: David Silverman/Getty Images.
Designed without a budget and comprised of no less than 823 moving parts, its creator is none other than Prussian watch wizard Abraham-Louis Breguet, whose Breguet company—now part of the Swiss Swatch Group—has been popular with European nobility for centuries.
The No. 160 Marie Antoinette may well be Breguet’s best work. In addition to sounding the hours, minutes, and seconds, a commendable feat for the time in which it was created, the watch came with a thermometer, a second hand that could be used as a stopwatch, and a calendar that corrected for leap years—features that earned it the nickname “the grand contraption.”
Considered the most valuable watch on the face of the Earth, one need not imagine the shock when—in April 1983—employees of the L.A. Mayer Museum for Islamic Art awoke to find its display case smashed, and it missing alongside 106 other rare and antique watches.
The No. 160 remained missing for nearly two decades until 2004, when the thief, overcome with remorse in his final days, revealed its location—returning the masterpiece to the world and restoring its place in horological history. Now the watch is heading to London—its first international trip after being returned to L.A. Mayer in 2008.
While the No. 160 watch eventually found its way back into the spotlight, Marie Antoinette’s own story ended long before its completion. Commissioned in 1783, the watch wasn’t finished until 1827, after both Breguet and the Queen had passed—leaving behind a legacy of elegance and extravagance that still dazzles today.