These other women seeing her, and I think there was a touch of, yes, she was the addict and loved a beautiful thing, but I also think there was a touch of revenge, slightly, of, you see now, I can have whatever I want, and yet, what was marvellous, she did have this fabulous taste.

But it was a bit nuts.

Welcome to If Jewels Could Talk.

I'm Carol Walton, the voice of jewellery, an author, broadcaster,

and the woman who initiated the role of Jewelry editor at magazines like Tattler and British Vogue.

This is a podcast for everyone. For people who do like jewelry, for people who don't realize

they like jewelry, and anyone intrigued by fascinating facts, new ideas, and forgotten histories.

So please join me as I tell sparkly tales meeting all sorts of people delving into

four centuries of jewellery culture and investigate what's happening now.

Welcome back to If Jewels Could Talk. This week, one of Napoleon Bonaparte's famous hats has gone on display in Hong Kong at Bonham's prior to being auctioned. The reserve, 100 to 150,000 pounds, but it's thought this hat will raise over a million. Such is the interest in the legacy of Napoleon Bonaparte and his

empress, Josephine. You might remember a few episodes ago, we talked about Mary Queen of Scots'

shopping habit. And today, you are going to hear that we have another massive jewelry shopaholic

on our hands. So this week, we thought it was the perfect time to take a look into their legacy,

particularly in their jewelled legacy, and the brilliant glittering array of jewels that they amassed throughout their union.

I'm delighted to have two experts on the subject joining me from Paris, Natasha Fraser Cavarsoni,

the Paris-based luxury expert and author whose books include Chanel fashion, Monsieur Dior,

Vogue on Yves-Sin-Aron, and Shomis Tiaras. And we'll be joined by the historian Pierre

Bernda, head of heritage at the Fondasianne-N-ondasin Napoleon. He's the award-winning author

of 15 books on the Napoleonic period, including a biography of Josephine. He's curated several

exhibitions devoted to Napoleon, most recently Napoleon Unistoire Extraordinaire, for Choney in Paris.

The pieces that we'll be talking about

are drawn from the historical collection of Maison Chomé,

...