The jewels of the Crown at the Ecole-des-Mines of Paris

The Crown Jewels at the Ecole-des-Mines of Paris come from the sale of 1887. At that date, new gems belonging to this so-called Crown have been added to the collections. For the most part, these gems have never been exhibited since they were deposited with the museum in 1887. In addition, all the stones come from highly reputed deposits and are of rare intrinsic quality.

The Musée de Minéralogie located at the 2nd floor in the Ecole des Mines

The Musée de Minéralogie is located at 60 boulevard Saint-Michel, in the 6th arrondissement of Paris, inside the Ecole des Mines de Paris (MINES ParisTech - "French Grande Ecole" for education of mines engineers - University level) The museum to visit is on the second floor of the Hôtel Vendôme, in which the Ecole des Mines has been housed since 1815. You'll find the magnificent entrance to the “Collections” at the top of the frescoed staircase, in a mid-19th century decor.

The Musée de Minéralogie and the Ecole des Mines in Hôtel Vendome

During your visit to the museum, you'll be able to admire the extraordinary staircase and murals. Indeed, the Hôtel Vendôme dates back to the early 18th century. . The Carthusian monks who owned the land built a hotel overlooking the rue d'Enfer, long before the boulevard Saint-Michel was built in the 19th century. But the canon de la Porte, who had commissioned the work, died in 1710. The hotel was then leased to the Duchesse de Vendôme, granddaughter of the Grand Condé, Louis II de Bourbon. She in turn died just as the extension work was nearing completion. With the arrival of the 4th Duc de Chaulnes in 1733, followed by his son Michel Ferdinand d'Albert d'Ailly, the scientific history of this prestigious building began, as they installed their cabinets of physics and curiosities. After Michel Ferdinand d'Albert d'Ailly's death in 1769, the building was occupied by a succession of occupants. During the French Revolution, the hotel was confiscated and put up for sale. An antique dealer bought it and emptied it of its furnishings. Although the École des Mines moved in in 1815, the building did not become state property until 1837. Between 1840 and 1855, a series of major exterior and interior refurbishments took place, giving the Library and Museum their current configuration. These two entities were virtually unaffected by subsequent expansion work and, above all, by the construction of the Boulevard Saint-Michel from 1853 onwards, which amputated the building's eastern façade. The Museum therefore retains the appearance it acquired in the 1850s.

The murals

Claude Hugard's paintings were created in 1855. They represent the “spectacle of nature”. Dufrénoy, director of the Ecole des Mines and author with Elie de Beaumont of the first geological map of France, wrote to the Ministry in January 1855: “The paintings could only be of interest if they combined fine artistic execution with great geological veracity”.

The ceiling frescoes

The ceiling paintings by Alexandre Denis Abel de Pujol date from 1856. They were installed in 1858 and 1859. It is an “apotheosis of the great men who have distinguished themselves in geology and mineralogy”. The Allegory of Science, in the form of a winged young woman draped in antique style, crowns an assembly of scientists arranged in a circle on a cloud.

The École des Mines de Paris mineralogy collection

  In fact, the mineralogy collection at the École des Mines de Paris was created in 1794. It was just two years after the Theft of the crown jewels during theree version) French Revolution but there was no link between these two events. It was then called the Cabinet des Mines. Today, it is one of the most comprehensive in the world, with 100,000 samples in the collection and 5,000 on display, including over a thousand mineral species.

In 1887, scientists loosened the stones from their frames to prevent their sale by deceiving the ignorant politicians of the day. For the rulers of the Third Republic, their interest was purely mineralogical. And these crown jewels were deposited in the “Cabinet des Mines”. Since the sale of the French Crown Jewels in 1887, other gems belonging to the Crown have been added to the collections. For the most part, these gems have never been exhibited since their deposit in the museum.

However, the historical value of these gems is obvious, even if they are presented as loose stones. The idea of the splendor of the crown jewels from these stones is enough to warm the imagination.

Since January 5, 2016, Le Musée de Minéralogie Mines Paris Tech has been offering a new exhibition devoted to cut gems from the crown jewels. Dedicated primarily to mineralogy, the museum is now taking a heritage and historical turn, in partnership with Riondet, specialists in antique jewelry. As these stones are destined to remain on display, a third place to discover the jewels of the crown is emerging in Paris, after Le Louvre and the Natural-History-Museum. This initiative is of major historical value. It introduces the public to a collection of the utmost importance.

Jewels of the Crown at the Ecole-des-Mines on display

For more than 200 years, the mineralogical collections of "MINES ParisTech", housed in the Hôtel de Vendôme, have been linked to the training of mining engineers in France. They are among the most comprehensive and spectacular in the world.

Among these mineral marvels, the museum holds a collection of some 1,200 cut stones, of which around 200 are on display. Among these gems, the Museum presents three showcases dedicated to gems from the French Crown Jewels. In all, over one hundred and fifty gems from this French royal treasure are on permanent display at the MINES ParisTech Mineralogy Museum.

The 3 showcases jewels of the Crown at the Ecole-des-Mines

The first showcase is devoted to amethysts

These rare 19th-century violet gems come from a set of 235 amethysts made by François-Regnault Nitot for Empress Marie-Louise (2nd wife of Napoleon 1st). Louis XVIII had them stripped of their finery, and most were thus preserved in the Joyaux de la Couronne. In 1887, most of the unmounted amethysts were donated to the École des Mines, while 12 were deposited with the Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle. These amethysts probably come from the Ural region of Russia.

The second showcase is dedicated to emeralds

Suites of emeralds

These series of emeralds in two different cuts were set on the Coronne de Sacre made by Lemonnier for Napoleon III in 1855. Forty-two emeralds are featured in the exhibition. They come from the famous Muzo emerald mines in Colombia.

The emerald ball necklace

Also in this showcase is a row of 47 emerald balls, totaling 117 carats, particularly remarkable for the intensity of their color and their ball cut, rare for this type of stone. There is no record of the acquisition of these gems in the 1791 inventory, but they appear in that of 1811. Bernard Morel, auteur de l'anthologie sur les « Joyaux de la Couronne », suggère qu'il s'agit d'une « pièce saisie aux émigrés pendant la Révolution ». Ce point reste cependant historiquement obscur.

The third showcase features pink topazes, known as “Brazilian Rubies”

A large series of topazes was acquired by Napoleon I to create Empress Marie-Louise's “Rubis du Brésil” set. The unmounted stones were inventoried in 1811 and donated mainly to the École des Mines in 1887. Today, some of these gems are on public display in the Galerie de Minéralogie and also at the Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle for the “Trésors de la terre” exhibition. They come from Ouro Preto in the Minas Gerais region of Brazil.

This sumptuous set of “Rubis du Brésil” pink topazes can be seen on a portrait of the Empress by Pierre Guérin (1774-1835) after Gérard (1770-1837), in the Grand-Palais.

The missing jewels of the Crown at the Ecole-des-Mines

Malheureusement tous les trésors en lien avec la Couronne de France confiés à l'Ecole des Mines ont disparus de la collection :

• The 900 or so pearls were sold on May 16, 1903 by order of the Minister of Industry, on the pretext that they were of no mineralogical interest. At that time, we were still under the Third Republic, with its politicians turned against everything that embodied the previous monarchical regimes.

• The 2 “brilliant” diamonds of 7.10 and 5.44 carats, delivered by François-Regnault Nitot between 1810 and 1812 to Napoleon I, were stolen along with other minerals from the collection in December 1909. During the Restoration period, they had adorned the coronation crown of Charles X (1824).