Marie-Etienne Nitot (1750–1809) was a French jeweller and founder of the House of Chaumet. The official jeweller to Napoleon, he designed the Napoleon Tiara and the Imperial Sword.[1][2][3]
From the French article on the chaumet company which he founded:
"Marie-Etienne Nitot (1750-1809) moved to Paris in 1780 after his apprenticeship with Auber, jeweler at the time of Queen Marie-Antoinette . His aristocratic clientele it is faithful to the French Revolution of 1789 . It is then that the jewelry Nitot really takes off when she became in 1802 the appointed jeweler of the first Napoleon .
With the help of his son Francois Regnault (1779-1853), Nitot created jewelry that will offer the French empire pomp and power. The jewels of the marriage of Napoleon and Josephine de Beauharnais and then with Marie Louise of Habsburg-Lorraine are created by Nitot. He designed and serves as the crown of the coronation of Napoleon, the handle of his sword and many other ornaments for the yard.
François Regnault Nitot resume jewelry from his father until his death in 1809 and will continue to operate until the fall of the empire in 1815. The exile of Napoleon motivates Nitot, a fervent royalist, to remove the jewelry. So he sold his business to his foreman, Jean Baptiste Fossin (1786-1848). "
(here is the URL for the Google translation: