This gold carnet is covered with blue enamel over a guilloche ground and decorated with half-pearls, opals, emeralds and an inscription running over both sides worked in diamonds: A Memento... of Gratitude. The carnet was presented to Catherine the Great by Prince Grigory Potemkin. The front and back of the case are decorated with painted enamel medallions. These allegorical images were probably intended to symbolize the military successes of the Illustrious Prince, Catherine's favourite, and his gratitude to his Empress.
The carnet was kept in the Winter Palace from the late 18th century and in the Gallery of Jewellery from the mid-19th.