Tag Archives: Tiara

Royal Meander Tiara with Diamonds of Grand Duchess Viktoria Melitta

Royal Meander Tiara with Diamonds of Grand Duchess Viktoria Melitta
This tiara was formerly owned by Princess Victoria Melitta of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha , married first to the Grand Duke of Hesse and second to Grand Duke Kirill, her great love. He gave her this meander-shaped tiara made of diamonds and platinum.
After the collapse of the Imperial Russian Empire, Victoria Feodorovna’s jewels were her only possessions, so she sold her jewelry little by little to survive with her family, including this tiara.
Her sister, Queen Marie of Romania, supported her with jewelry purchases and bought the piece from her to give to her future daughter-in-law, Princess Helen of Greece, pictured above on the left, who had already worn it as a bride at her wedding in 1921.
After the death of his grandfather Ferdinand (1927), their five-year-old son, King Michael I (Romanian: Mihai I), formally ascended the Romanian throne for the first time, as Crown Prince Carol had been forced to renounce the right of succession in favor of his son in 1926 due to his lifestyle. Prince Nicolaus, Carol’s younger brother and Michael’s uncle, led the government during this time.
Many important jewels have been sold over the years, but this tiara remained in the family’s possession and was passed down through the Romanian royal family to the next Queen Anne of Romania. Queen Anne also wore the jewel at her wedding to Queen Mother Helen’s son.
Princess Anne of Bourbon-Parma was born in Paris on September 18, 1923. She is the only daughter of her parents, Prince Renato of Bourbon-Parma and Margaret of Denmark. As a member of the royal house of Bourbon-Parma, she attended the wedding of Elizabeth, heir to the English throne, and Prince Philip of Greece in London in November 1947. There she met the young King Michael I of Romania.
Their daughters, Princesses Marie and Margarita, use the family’s showpiece for representational purposes and as a bridal ti
ara.

Chocolate of the Month Club Club

Greville Emerald Kokoshnik

Greville Emerald Kokoshnik. Today, we’ve got a rundown of the tiara’s fascinating journey from Boucheron to the royal vaults.

We now know that the diamond and emerald tiara was one of at least two diadems stashed in a black tin trunk that was delivered to Buckingham Palace in 1943. The trunk contained the jewels of the late Dame Margaret Greville, who had decided to bequeath the collection to her friend, Queen Elizabeth (the Queen Mother). Elizabeth adopted the other tiara from the bequest, the Greville Tiara, as one of her signature pieces, but for reasons unknown, she never wore the emerald kokoshnik in public.

It’s possible that kokoshniks simply weren’t the Queen Mum’s cup of tea. She had another kokoshnik tiara in her collection, the Persian Turquoise Tiara, altered so that it no longer had the typical halo shape of the style. She also revised the top line of the Greville Tiara so that it no longer resembled a traditional kokoshnik. It’s also possible, of course, that Elizabeth did wear the tiara privately, but we have no textual or photographic evidence of that. All we know for sure is that the tiara was deposited in her royal jewelry collection in 1943 and stayed there until her death in 2002. At that point, the jewel was inherited by her daughter, the present Queen, who has also never worn it in public.

There are, however, references available that demonstrate that Mrs. Greville wore the tiara herself after she acquired it in the years after World War I. In The Maggie Greville Story, Pam Burbidge cites several newspaper articles from the 1930s featuring mentions of Maggie wearing “her empire-shaped tiara of diamonds and emeralds.” One of those tiara appearances reportedly took place during the celebrations of the wedding of the Duke and Duchess of Kent in 1934. Burbidge also notes that a photograph of Maggie wearing the tiara, taken at a concert at the Austrian Legation in London in 1937, has also been located in a German archive.

The tiara is an exquisite example of early ’20s Art Deco design. The smooth diamond and platinum lines of the kokoshnik are interrupted by scalloped sections that echo the round cabochon shape of the piece’s central emerald cluster. That emerald measures at a whopping 93.70 carats. Six more (faceted) emeralds are set at regular intervals on each side of the tiara, which tapers pleasantly as it nearly encircles the wearer’s head, for a total of thirteen emeralds in the piece.

We know for certain that the tiara was made in Paris by Boucheron, but exactly when it was constructed appears to be a matter of debate. The Royal Collection has gone on record with 1919 as the date when the tiara was made. French royal jewelry historian Vincent Meylan disagrees. In his 2009 book on the Boucheron archives, he covers the client relationship between Mrs. Greville and the jewelry firm. When discussing the catalogue of purchases that Maggie made from the firm, he writes, “En 1921, c’est un bandeau de diamants orné d’une émeraude de 93.70 carats”—”in 1921, it was a diamond bandeau adorned with a 93.70-carat emerald.”

Meylan certainly had access to the company’s archive while writing his book—the book also includes a black-and-white photograph of the tiara, which was the only known image of the piece until its reemergence nine years later—but it’s certainly possible that the Royal Collection was also able to gain access to those same records when researching the piece for their own records. The Royal Collection has also quibbled with some of Meylan’s other claims about the provenance of the Greville jewels, most notably the Diamond Peardrop Earrings.

Art Deco Tiara Crown 19.85 Tcw Diamond 925 Sterling Silver

An Exquisite Art Deco Tiara Crown 19.85 Tcw Diamond 925 Sterling Silver

Costozon Art Deco Crown Total carat weight 19.85 TCW, 19.85 Carat Natural Rose cut Diamond and Carat Studded in 78.72 Gms 925 Sterling Silver Wedding Crown Diamond Tiara Crown at Diamond Tiara Crown Online with IGL Certification, BIS Hallmark, 30 Day Easy Return. Finest Real Diamond Tiara Crown excellent design made from premium 925 Sterling Silver, studded with the natural uncut rose cut diamond and Gemstone.

Antique Headband Tiara 50 Ctw Rose Cut Diamond Emerald, Ruby 925 Sterling Silver

32.12 Tcw Emerald and Diamond 925 Sterling Silver Tiara

73.85 Tcw Amethyst and Diamond 925 Sterling Silver Queen Crown Diamond Tiara

Gorgeous 73.85 Tcw Amethyst and Diamond 925 Sterling Silver Queen Crown Diamond Tiara

Costozon Crown For Women Total carat weight 73.85 TCW, 13.85 Carat Natural Rose cut Diamond and 60 Carat amethyst Studded in 85.25 Gms 925 Sterling Silver Queen Crown Real Diamond Crown at Diamond Tiara Crown Online with IGL Certification, Free Shipping, BIS Hallmark

17.85 Tcw Diamond 925 Sterling Silver Tiara

The Cubitt-Shand Tiara

This tiara was worn by Laura Lopes, the daughter of Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, for her wedding in 2006. Camilla also wore it for her first wedding to Andrew Parker-Bowles, and has been pictured in it as recently as 2015.

Greek Emerald Parure Tiara

Anne-Marie of Greece wears the Greek Emerald Parure Tiara during the Ruby Jubilee celebrations for her sister, Queen Margrethe II of Denmark, in Copenhagen.

 Anne-Marie of Greece wears the Greek Emerald Parure Tiara during the Ruby Jubilee celebrations for her sister, Queen Margrethe II of Denmark, in Copenhagen.

Tulip Fields in Oregon

Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear and Pipe by Vincent Van Gogh

An Exquisite Tiara of The Spanish Royalty

 

 

This tiara, considered the most important diadem of their collection, called “La Buena” (The Good one) and only worn by the Queens of Spain, was a wedding present from King Alfonso XIII to his bride, Princess Victoria Eugenie of Battenberg. Made in 1906 by Ansorena with more than 500 diamonds set in platinum, it features the Fleur de Lys, the Bourbon’s emblem.











An Antique Ruby and Diamond Tiara

Composed of five oval-shaped ruby and diamond clusters to the diamond-set panels of foliate design, mounted in silver and gold, circa 1860, 19.6 cm. inner circumference

Provenance

Lots 320 and 322 were, by family tradition, given by Emperor Franz Joseph (1830-1916) as wedding gifts to Archduchess Elisabeth of Austria (1878-1960), on her marriage in 1903 to Prince Aloys of Liechtenstein (1869-1955), thence by descent 

AN ANTIQUE RUBY AND DIAMOND TIARA
AN ANTIQUE RUBY AND DIAMOND TIARA

AN ANTIQUE RUBY AND DIAMOND TIARA

The Oriental Circlet Ruby and Diamond Tiara

After Queen Victoria’s death, the Oriental Circlet passes onto to her daughter-in-law, Queen Alexandra. Thinking opals ‘unlucky’, Alexandra had the circlet re-set with rubies which had belonged to Victoria, though there don’t seem to have been any images of Queen Alexandra wearing the newly re-set piece.

Oriental Circlet
Oriental Circlet