This jewellery may be fake, but it’s precious beyond compare

Tucked between a Starbucks and a Hard Rock Cafe, an extraordinary trove is about to go on display in historical Paris mansion never before opened to the public.

Robert Bevan

Oct 23, 2023 – 5.00am

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t was once tradition that French actors wore their own jewels on stage – and the more brilliant these looked, the better this reflected upon the performer – even if they were utterly inappropriate to the role played. Before her early death from consumption in 1858, ‘Rachel’, who rose dizzyingly from a family of pedlars to become a celebrated actress known by her first name, changed her jewellery for each act when playing the title role in Racine’s Phèdre. Tiny and fiery, the lover of counts, princes and various Napoleons, Rachel was a true stage diva.