OPAL DELIGHT | A Rare Opal, Ruby & Diamond Tiara Belonging To The Descendants of Lafayette

This tiara comes to Dreweatts through the Estate of Jean Pierre François Joseph Pineton de Chambrun, Marquis de Chambrun, Marquis d’Amfreville (1903-2004), and his second wife Muriel, the Dowager  Marquise de Chambrun. Jean Pierre Pineton was the eldest son of French politician and diplomat Charles Louis Antoine Pierre Gilbert Pineton de Chambrun (1865-1954) and his American wife, Margaret Rives Nichols (1872-1949) was born into the 19th-century millionaire Longworth Storer family in Cincinnati. The de Chambrun family had a distinguished history as important French politicians in the French Senate and French Chamber of Deputies and were direct descendants of Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette. Although profoundly deaf, Jean Pierre studied biochemistry at the Institut Pasteur and art at the Horace Vernet school. As a member of the Cercle de l’Union Artistique in France, Jean Pierre became an acclaimed painter and designer of jewellery, wrought iron and crystal for Baccarat. This ex