Marie Betteley was born in Paris and is a third generation jewelry dealer. She grew up in a world of Russian treasures, having spent her teenage years on the grounds of Hillwood Museum in Washington, DC, as the director's daughter. Betteley earned a BA in art history and Graduate Gemologist diploma from the Gemological Institute of America. Her professional career began at Christie's auction house in New York where she worked as a gemologist, and eventually rose to head of the Russian Department.
After ten years at Christie's, she launched her own business by opening a gallery in Manhattan specializing in Russian jewels. Today, she is a leading authority of Imperial Russian decorative arts and jewelry, and consults for auction houses, museums, and private collectors worldwide. David Schimmel-penninck van der Oye is a professor of Russian history at Brock University in Ontario, and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada.
A leading specialist of the imperial era, he is the author of Toward the Rising Sun and Russian Orientalism, among other titles.