Turns out you don’t need to rob the Louvre to get your hands on some of the French crown jewels. 

M.S. Rau has exclusively shared with Robb Report that it has an extraordinary pair of drop earrings with ties to French royalty. The matching set has been listed for $7.95 million, underscoring the coveted and costly nature of jewels with royal provenance. 

The natural pearl and diamond earrings descended through the family of Queen Amélie, the last Queen of France and niece of Marie Antoinette, according to the New Orleans–based antiques dealer. Fewer than 10 jewels attributed to Queen Amélie are known today, including a small group of sapphires and pearls that were taken from the Louvre in an elaborate heist last October. In other words, pieces like these are exceptionally rare. 

For more than four centuries, the French crown jewels were used by the country’s royal family. After Napoleon III’s abdication and the establishment of the Third Republic in 1875, the new government decided to auction off almost the entire collection to prevent a royalist resurgence. A small selection of the jewels remained within the royal family, including these specific earrings. 

The earrings are in the classic drop style that was favored by queens and princesses for generations. At the center lie large natural pearls, which were among the most prized gemstones of the late 18th and early 19th centuries, ranking even rarer than diamonds at that time. There are diamonds too, of course, which were added later by jeweler to the French crown Mellerio dits Meller. 

The earrings descended directly through the Bourbon-Orléans line and come with a family tree that provides more context. Also included in the sale is a Swiss Gemmological Institute SSEF certificate that cites a painting of Queen Amélie wearing the earrings and a letter from Jean d’Orleans that details their ownership by his grandmother, Princess Isabella, and includes photographs of her wearing them.

“These extraordinary natural pearl and diamond earrings, worn by Queen Amélie—the last Queen of France—are among the most important works we have ever been able to present,” Bill Rau, third-generation owner of M.S. Rau, tells Robb Report. “We have known of these earrings for many years, and it was a rare convergence of timing and good luck that allowed us to bring them to market.”

Jewels with connections to French royals—or any blue bloods, for that matter—typically fetch extraordinary prices at auction. Marie Antoinette’s pearl and diamond pendant famously sold for a record $36 million at a Sotheby’s auction in 2018, for example. That makes $7.95 million sound like a bargain.