Gramont came from an
aristocratic Paris family. He was the grandson of
Françoise, duchesse de Praslin. Françoise was found murdered. Her husband, Charles de Choiseul, Duke of Praslin was believed guilty for her death and committed suicide while awaiting trial. These events in 1847 contributed to the
French Revolution of 1848. Gramont took an interest in minerals, initially examining their synthesis (including the synthesis of
boracite and
datolite) and then examining
pyroelectricity in
scolecite along with
Georges Friedel. From 1894 he began to experiment in spectroscopy and developed a direct approach to analysis of minerals using an induction coil to generate sparks within which a sample was placed. He was able to remove the spectral lines caused by the metal of the electrodes by removing the condenser. Using photography, he also extended spectroscopy into the
UV region. He developed the technique further using capillary tubes of samples fused with salts. He also examined approaches to quantitative estimation of chemicals using the brightness of the spectra. Most of his findings were published in French in the
Comptes rendus hebdomadaires des séances de l’Académie des sciences. His last work was on spectroscopy which he was working on along with
Paul-Émile Lecoq de Boisbaudran. He died suddenly after a short illness. == Personal life ==