Here's a real gem for you......................

Just the other day, French auction house, Osenat, sold Napoleon's engagement ring, given to Josephine in 1796, for $948,000 (780,000 euros), a record sale! The sale shattered expectations, purchased by an anonymous buyer, almost 50 times the $20,000 price that was expected! When Napoleon purchased it, it is said the ring must have "broken his wallet". At the time, Napoleon was a young officer, and not very wealthy. He must have loved her. They married on March 9, 1796, but unfortunately, later on, as she did not bear any children for him, he divorced her in 1810.

The ring design is called "toi et moi", or "You and Me", a typical 18th Century style, with two opposing rear-shaped stones, in this case, one diamond, and one sapphire. The stones are a little less than one carat each. The auctioneer says there were international buyers in attendance, as well as requests for private spaces a floor above the salesroom, where the ultra rich could bid with anonymity. The buyer's name, of course, will not be disclosed, but someone has a very special gem in their possession.

Interestingly enough, this year marks the 250th anniversary of Josephine's birth.
She was an aristocrat, and already a widow when she married Napoleon. She was 32, and six years older than he.

Perhaps it is the ring he conceals in his breast pocket in the painting above! What do you think? Frankly, I like the pciture of him as seen below, but I think it is more a fantasy portrait. Nevertheless, it is the ring that truly has been the fantasy for the Osenat auction house!