Room 3 of the exhibition 'Dynastic Jewels,' which brings together jewels commissioned by members of royal families, such as Queen Victoria – depicted here wearing her coronet of sapphires and diamonds. MARC DOMAGE/THE AL THANI COLLECTION 2025
One piece is missing: the Lemonnier pearl tiara (1853) of Empress Eugénie, stolen on October 19 during the heist in the Galerie d'Apollon at the Louvre. "One of her most beautiful jewels preserved to this day," stated the event catalog, which was finalized before the theft of the Crown Jewels, for which the commando team has since been charged. The jewel, still missing, is absent from the Hôtel de la Marine in Paris.
Nevertheless, the exhibition running from December 10 to April 6, 2026, "Dynastic Jewels: Power, Prestige and Passion, 1700-1950," brings together many other treasures – a rare display of carats and opulence. The result of a partnership between the Victoria and Albert Museum in London and the Al Thani Collection (owned by Sheikh Hamad bin Abdullah Al Thani, cousin of the Emir of Qatar), the show features jewels owned and worn by reigning dynasties since the 18th century.
Displaying such royal and aristocratic splendor in the capital of a republic did not deter Amin Jaffer, who has been director of the Al Thani Collection since 2017. "While the tradition of jewels as symbols of power continues in the British monarchy, we could not help but notice how much the French commented on the coronation [of King Charles III]," the curator remarked. Furthermore, the Hôtel de la Marine, with which the Al Thani Collection has an agreement to display part of its art collection until 2041, "was once the repository of the French crown jewels [from 1767 to 1792], and that is where the jewels were kept," he recalled.
