The Maximilian Emerald is a 21.04-carat Colombian emerald. It was once set in a ring worn by Mexico’s doomed emperor, Ferdinand Maximilian Joseph. Ferdinand was an Austrian archduke who was crowned emperor of Mexico in 1864. Three years later he was executed during an uprising. The emerald is currently seated in a platinum setting by Cartief, flanked by baguette-cut diamonds. The ring was donated to the Smithsonian by Mrs. Marjorie Merriweather Post 1964. Marjorie Merriweather Post was heiress to the Post cereal fortune and a collector of French and Russian art. This ring is one of several major donations she generously gifted to the National Gem Collection. The Maximilian Emerald Ring is on display in the Gem Gallery at the National Museum of Natural History.
