“Historical” Marie-Antoinette bracelet on display in New York (photo)

cHis unique piece, made up of seven antique cameos mounted on a bracelet with floral motifs of garnets and silver, is not “an interesting jewel of the Court” but “historical”, praises the 14th generation representative de <a href="http://www.world-today-news.com/where-to-buy-a-yule-log-in-new-york/" title="Where to buy a Yule log in New York?”>Mellerio known as Meller, Laure-Isabelle Mellerio, president of the French jeweler founded in 1613.

For the “little story” told to AFP by Ms Mellerio, who was also an art director, her distant ancestor Jean-Baptiste Mellerio, a teenager around 1780, appeared himself one day “at the gates of the Château de Versailles” to offer his goods.

Spotted by Marie-Antoinette, who had a “taste for Antiquity”, Mellerio sold or gave her the famous bracelet worn by the last queen of Ancien Régime France until her execution by guillotine on 16 October 1793 in Paris.

Recovered by this family that is still at the helm of the oldest independent jeweler in the world, the bracelet, more than two hundred years later, is the “centerpiece” of Mellerio’s entry into the States United and New York, the international financial center, art and great luxury.

Marie-Antoinette’s necklace, exhibited in New York. – AFP.

“Jump the Atlantic”

“We made the leap across the Atlantic,” general director Christophe Mélard rejoices to AFP.

Located on Rue de la Paix, in the famous Parisian jewelry district, Place Vendôme, Mellerio has chosen its counterpart in Manhattan, where prestigious international brands stand between 5th Avenue, 57th Street and Madison Avenue.

Until the end of October, Marie-Antoinette’s bracelet will sit among more contemporary Mellerio jewelry on the ground floor of a famous New York department store.

Ms. Mellerio and Mr. Mélard, who refuse to express their conversion, emphasize that the Americans represent “the second nationality (of) foreign clients”, after the Japanese.

“Historically, the house has always had strong ties to Japan and its imperial family,” recalls the general manager, but Mellerio noted that “the proportion of buyers rose American from 2% to 20% between 2019 and today”.

The luxury market is slowing down

However, the global luxury market is showing signs of slowing down, according to analysts.

In a note in September titled “cruel summer”, HSBC bank lowered its growth forecast for the sector in 2024 from 5.5% to 2.8%, due to a fall in consumption in the United States and the China due to inflation.

So she predicts “the 6th worst year in 20 years”.

The company JLL, however, believes that luxury distribution in the United States and New York will remain with 82 billion dollars in sales by 2028, compared to 75 billion in 2023, or almost a third of the global turnover .

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