Will you tell us about a gem or piece of jewelry with an interesting provenance or curse?

I could use a little help from the Fluther community on this one. I’ve searched the net far and wide, but haven’t had any luck. A knowledge of French and Spanish language sources might be helpful in this search. The ability to navigate old police archives would be invaluable. Paris and Buenos Aires police archives between 1870 through 1920, specifically.

1: Yves Chaudron: French, minor artist, professional art restorer, master art forger. I believe he died in his sixties in the early 1930s. Chaudron was reputed to be one of the most gifted counterfeiter in the art world. A respected conservator but really a master forger. From his studio in the Bohemian artist district of Montmarte, Chaudron would copy great paintings which had been lost or stolen, which his collaborator the Edouardo Marquis of Valfierno would then sell on to collectors. He is thought to be responsible for making 6 impeccable copies of Leonardo da Vinci’s La Gioconda in the famous 1911 Mona Lisa painting theft from the Louvre. He left a rather large footprint, but remakably, there doesn’t seem to have one photograph of him anywhere on the net.

2: Edouardo de Valfierno: Argentinian aristrocrat, art dealer, seller of forged art, confidence man. Died in his sixties in the late 1920s. The Marquis de Valfierno was a high-end grifter from Argentina who made his living by selling fake art and antiques to collectors, museums, and even other dealers. Valfierno specialized in Spanish masters such as Bartolomé Murillo, DiegoVelázquez, and El Greco through his studio in Buenos Aires and later in Paris and London. He is said to be the mastermind behind the 1911 Mona Lisa painting theft. So far, I have not been able to find one photograph of him anywhere on the net.

If you like questions on Art or art history and relic provenance, you might want to see these questions as well: "HERE":http://www.fluther.com/169650/will-you-tell-us-about-a-work-of-art-or-literature/
and "HERE":http://www.fluther.com/169661/will-you-tell-us-about-a-gem-or-piece-of-jewelry/