Bemer

During the time of Louis 15-sei, a famous jeweler named Bemer often visited the royal palace. He received a very special order for a dazzling diamond necklace meant for Madame du Barry. But sadly, Madame du Barry passed away, and there was no one left to buy the necklace. The necklace was so expensive that even other royals didn't want it. Bemer tried to sell it to Marie Antoinette, but she refused, saying she already had enough diamonds. Still wanting to find a buyer, Bemer got involved with Jeanne Barrois, a woman rumored to be close to the queen, and this led to a big scandal. Through a series of lies and tricky plans, Bemer ended up losing the necklace and bringing trouble to the entire court. The story shows how greed and rumors can lead to great problems, even for the famous and powerful.

The Royal Necklace Order

During the days of Louis 15-sei, Bemer, a well-known jeweler, was trusted by the royal family.

One day, Bemer was asked to create a beautiful diamond necklace for Madame du Barry.

The necklace was filled with shining diamonds and was worth a huge sum—1.6 million livres, which would be billions of yen today.

But before the necklace could be gifted, Madame du Barry died suddenly.

With her gone, there was nobody to take the necklace.

An Unwanted Treasure

Bemer was left with the expensive necklace and nobody wanted to buy it.

It was so costly that even the richest royal families weren’t interested.

Trying not to lose hope, Bemer went to see Marie Antoinette and said she could buy the necklace on a payment plan if she wanted.

But Marie Antoinette coldly turned him down, saying, “I already have enough diamonds.”

The Trickster’s Plan

Bemer was desperate to sell the necklace, so he went to Jeanne Barrois, who many believed was a close friend of the queen.

He asked Jeanne to help convince Marie Antoinette to buy the necklace.

A powerful and respected man, Archbishop Louis de Loirean, agreed to act as a guarantor for the deal.

But things didn’t go as planned.

The Great Deception

Jeanne Barrois tricked both Bemer and Archbishop Louis de Loirean.

She got hold of the necklace using clever lies and promises.

Bemer, not knowing he was being tricked, sent a letter to Marie Antoinette asking her to pay for the necklace.

The Queen’s Response and the Scandal

Marie Antoinette had no knowledge of the necklace or the scam.

She received Bemer’s letter and, thinking it was nonsense, burned it without reading it fully.

Bemer, waiting for payment, grew worried when he received nothing.

The Truth is Revealed

Finally, Bemer rushed to Versailles and spoke to Madame Campan to explain his problem.

Because of this, the whole scandal was uncovered, and people found out about Jeanne’s lies.

An important detail was that someone had truly believed Jeanne was a close friend of Marie Antoinette, which made the scam more believable.

Bemer was a trusted jeweler who worked closely with the French royal court.
He tried to sell the necklace to Marie Antoinette after Madame du Barry’s death.
Jeanne Barrois pretended to be close to the queen to trick him.
Archbishop Louis de Loirean was involved as a guarantor but was also deceived.
Bemer’s connection to these figures led to the famous necklace scandal.

The necklace was worth 1.6 million livres, a truly huge amount of money at the time.
Madame du Barry died before she could receive the necklace, starting a chain of problems.
The event was one of the scandals that damaged the reputation of Marie Antoinette and the royal family.