The French jewellery house of Chaumet was founded by Marie-Etienne Nitot in Paris in the late eighteenth century.  Among the first of Ninot’s dealings with the royal jewels of Europe was when he was asked to take inventory of the jewel collection of Marie-Antoinette.  Over the next century, the firm would become the premier French jeweller, acting as the official jeweller to Napoleon I.  Later in the nineteenth century the company came to be controlled by the Chaumet family, who continued this tradition of excellence, with patrons including the Tsars of Russia and the Shah of Persia, among many others.  Today Chaumet’s flagship remains in the prestigious Place Vendome in Paris.