FLOAT 100 · Jewelry · No. 92
Chaumet Josephine Aigrette Ring (white gold + diamonds)
A 2.5-millimeter band of white gold and 23 small diamonds carries a story that runs back to Napoleon's coronation: the Paris house that made Empress Joséphine's jewels shrank one of her tiaras down to fit a finger.
- Year
- current
- Maker
- Chaumet
- By price in jewelry
- 82 of 100
Create a free account to see every recorded price and every grade.
Create a free account- Maker
- Chaumet, Paris, founded 1780 by Marie-Étienne Nitot; part of LVMH since 1999
- Reference
- 083590
- Collection
- Joséphine, launched 2010; Aigrette line
- Metal
- 18-carat white gold
- Stones
- 23 brilliant-cut diamonds, G color, VS+ clarity, totaling 0.40 carat (the maker calls these figures indicative)
- Width
- 2.5 mm
- Sister model
- Pink gold version, reference 083517
- U.S. retail
- $6,650 on the maker's U.S. site as of October 3, 2026
A tiara made to crown a finger
Chaumet describes the Joséphine Aigrette pieces as a contemporary take on the tiara and headpiece, reimagined to crown the finger. An aigrette is a jeweled head ornament, originally a spray worn in the hair, and in this ring the idea is reduced to its outline: a narrow white gold band, 2.5 millimeters wide, rising to a tapered, tiara-like crest set with 23 brilliant-cut diamonds.
The maker's own specification sheet lists 18-carat white gold and 23 diamonds graded G color and VS+ clarity, totaling 0.40 carat, with diamonds sourced in compliance with the Kimberley Process. Chaumet adds that the carat weight, number of stones and metal weight are given as an indication and are not contractual values.
The Joséphine collection launched in 2010. Chaumet says it was drawn from the tiara, a house specialty, and Wikipedia's account of the brand describes it as inspired by the diadem, tiara and aigrette, the head jewels Joséphine herself wore.
The empress and her jeweler
Marie-Étienne Nitot (1750 to 1809) set up in Paris in 1780 after an apprenticeship with Ange-Joseph Aubert, jeweler to Marie-Antoinette. After he completed Napoleon's coronation sword and the papal tiara given to Pope Pius VII in 1805, Chaumet says Nitot became jeweler to the imperial court and personal jeweler to the Empress Joséphine. Wikipedia dates his appointment as Napoleon's official jeweler to 1804 and credits him with jewels for Napoleon's weddings to both Joséphine and Marie Louise.
Joséphine, born Marie Josèphe Rose Tascher de La Pagerie on June 23, 1763, married Napoleon in 1796, was crowned empress on December 2, 1804, and saw the marriage annulled in 1810. She died on May 29, 1814. Chaumet calls her the house's first major client and its inspiration, and wheat, one of the house's recurring motifs, is described as one of her favorites.
The tiara stayed central long after the Empire. Joseph Chaumet, who ran the house from 1885 to 1928 and gave it its name, made aigrettes and tiaras a specialty. Among the house's archive pieces is a winged aigrette tiara made in 1910 for Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, and Wikipedia reports that the archives hold 2,500 diadems and nickel-silver replicas of diadems.
Paris, 12 Place Vendôme
Nitot's son François-Regnault took over and, according to Chaumet, moved the business in 1812 to 15 Place Vendôme, now the Ritz Paris, making it the first jeweler on the square. After the fall of the Empire the business passed to Jean-Baptiste Fossin, then to the Morel family, and in 1885 to Joseph Chaumet, who married Prosper Morel's daughter. In 1907 the workshop and boutique moved to 12 Place Vendôme, where they remain.
The twentieth century was rough. Wikipedia reports that the house closed in 1934 and reopened after World War II, and that under Jacques and Pierre Chaumet it filed for bankruptcy in 1987 with liabilities of 1.4 billion francs. It was bought that year by Investcorp and then by LVMH in October 1999.
The Joséphine collection arrived in 2010, a year before the Bee de Chaumet line, as the house built new signature lines around its imperial past to stand beside Liens, created in 1977. In 2017 Chaumet added a V-shaped version of the aigrette to its bridal range, described at the time as a symbol of everlasting love.
How to identify this model
Reference 083590 is the white gold version with a diamond-only setting. Chaumet also sells a pink gold version under reference 083517, and the Joséphine line includes many other Aigrette rings in different sizes and stones, some with pearls, at higher prices. Checking the reference, the metal and the stone count against the maker's specification is the simplest way to tell them apart.
Chaumet lists the ring in sizes 45 through 60 on its U.S. site; when it was checked on October 3, 2026, every size was marked unavailable online, with the maker directing buyers to its boutiques. The listed price was $6,650.
The numbers
- Carat weight
- 0.40 ct total, 23 brilliant-cut diamonds (indicative)
- Color and clarity
- G, VS+
- Metal
- 18-carat white gold
- Width
- 2.5 mm
- Sizes listed
- 45 to 60
- Collection launched
- 2010
Timeline
Marie-Étienne Nitot founds his jewelry house in Paris.
Joséphine is crowned empress; Nitot has become Napoleon's official jeweler.
Napoleon gives Pope Pius VII a papal tiara made by Nitot.
François-Regnault Nitot moves the house to 15 Place Vendôme, the first jeweler on the square.
Empress Joséphine dies at Rueil-Malmaison.
Joseph Chaumet takes control of the house and makes tiaras and aigrettes a specialty.
The house moves to 12 Place Vendôme.
Chaumet makes a winged aigrette tiara for Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney.
LVMH buys Chaumet.
Chaumet launches the Joséphine collection, inspired by the empress's tiaras and aigrettes.
A V-shaped aigrette joins Chaumet's bridal collection.
Reference 083590 is listed at $6,650 on the maker's U.S. site, unavailable online in every size.
The world in 2010
The Burj Khalifa officially opens in Dubai.
A magnitude 7.0 earthquake devastates Port-au-Prince, Haiti.
The first iPad goes on sale.
The Deepwater Horizon platform explodes in the Gulf of Mexico.
Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden marries Daniel Westling.
Spain wins the FIFA World Cup in South Africa.
Price record
| Date | Price | Kind |
|---|---|---|
| Oct 3, 2026 | $6,650 | Asking price, not a saleMaker's U.S. retail price for reference 083590, 18k white gold with 0.40 ct of diamonds. |
This is an asking price, not a sale. It is what a seller wanted on the date shown. Asking prices often sit above what buyers pay, but an ask is not a ceiling: a sale can land on either side of it. It is not a value.
By reference price, Chaumet Josephine Aigrette Ring (white gold + diamonds) is number 82 of 100 in the jewelry entries of the FLOAT 100. 44 of those 100 rest on a realized sale; the rest carry an asking price or a guide value, and each page says which. Rank within the FLOAT 100 itself (92 here) is editorial: how much an object defines its field, not price alone.
Did you know
- Chaumet's founder trained with the jeweler to Marie-Antoinette before he made jewels for Napoleon.
- Nitot set the 140-carat Regent diamond into Napoleon's coronation sword.
- Chaumet was the first jeweler on Place Vendôme, moving to number 15, now the Ritz Paris, in 1812.
- The house archives are reported to hold 2,500 diadems and replicas of diadems.
- Chaumet says it uses 12 key dates to tell its story, a nod to its address at 12 Place Vendôme.
- Chaumet designed the medals for the 2024 Paris Olympics, each holding a piece of original iron from the Eiffel Tower.
How this page is made
- The figure
- One reference price, shown with its own kind. FLOAT does not average it with anything or adjust it for time.
- Realized or not
- A realized price is a completed sale. An asking price, an estimate and a price-guide value are not sales, and are labeled as such wherever they appear.
- The story
- Researched from published records and checked fact by fact. Updated Oct 3, 2026.
- Archive
- Oct 5, 2026