Necklace in 750°/°° white gold adorned with 103 round old-cu - Lot 263

Necklace in 750°/°° white gold adorned with 103 round old-cut diamonds. Graduated sizes from 3 mm to 5 mm. Length: 30.5 cm - Gross weight: 12.77 g. Provenance: All the diamonds are said to have been purchased at the sale of the Estate of the Countess of Castiglione, June 26-30, 1901, by Emile Boudin and Fernand Lair-Dubreuil, auctioneers, mounted as a choker in the 1930s, and remained in the present descendants. (see galica link https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k1250553w.r=vente%20comtesse%20de%20castiglione?rk=85837;2). The Countess of Castiglione (1837-1899), a celebrated Second Empire courtesan and Piedmontese aristocrat, was commissioned by Cavour and the King of Piedmont-Sardinia to become the mistress of Napoleon III. She was described as "the most beautiful woman of her century". (https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virginia_de_Castiglione).