Tiaras and Trinkets on Tuesday (Generational Tiaras)

One of the "functions" of jewellery, if not its primary function,  is to serve in the sphere of sentimentality. Often, not just in Royal Families, jewels travel across generations as family heirlooms that remind the wearer of loved ones that might even have passed on.This is an even greater reality when jewellery pieces are of great financial value and even more so when historic value is added to boot. It is the historic factor that add to the significance of Royal jewels. These jewels, made to honour great historic events and influential people, have come down the various Royal family lines to still sparkle in our modern era. In todays post we will not discuss the great Crown Jewel Collections but rather the more personal jewellery that have been inherited for generations, alluding to bygone eras and people.

The first famous jewel collection in our discussion is the Queen Crystobel I Wedding Gift Diamond Parure or more accurately, the Ladies of Scotney Diamond Parure. The confusion with the name stems from the fact that this parure was indeed the young Queen Crystobel I's Wedding Gift but it is more appropriate to honour the giver than the receiver or the event. Thus seeing as all the aristocratic ladies of the Kingdom of Scotney arranged for the gift to be created and presented to the Queen, it is officially named the Ladies of Scotney Parure. 

The gift of this grand set of jewellery, made from indigenous Scotney Pearls and rare Indiana Diamonds was a grand gesture from the Scotney Nobility. The Duchess of Argyle, Countess Dysart and Baroness Ferguson headed up the committee of prominent Ladies who raised the capital for purchasing the Parure as a gift to be presented as a symbolic blessing from the women of  " the entire country" as it were.

Unfortunately we have no photographic documentation of Queen Crystobel I wearing the parure except for this single photo from 1983. She is seen wearing only the tiara from the set. The parure was inherited by her daughter Quenn Crystobel II of Scotney, who became Empress Crystobel of the United Empire of Scot-Britania. 

The parure survived the revolution and it is still owned by the Imperial descendants of Empress Crystobel. In this photo from 2011 we see her wearing the full parure with the tiara. This set of historic jewellery may soon to be seen on the head of Princess Odeliah, daughter in law of Empress Crystobel. 

It is obvious that there is a vast collection of jewellery in the Imperial collection that has been passed down from former generations but only some are either, extremely historic or exceptionally rare by virtue of the size of the stones. One such piece is the can be seen in the photo above worn by Empress Crystobel. The Imperial Sapphire Tiara was originally made in Ruskiana as a gift from the Tzar of Ruskiana to the visiting King and Queen of Britania in 1896. That year the Imperial Family of Ruskiana celebrated it Bicentenary and hosted the greatest State Ball the world had ever seen. As part of the display of Ruskian wealth the Tzar decided to bestow spectacular Tiaras, as gifts showcasing Ruskian craftsmanship, upon all the wives of the visiting monarchs. The tiara has been passed down the Britanian line ever since. Currently it is still owned by the Crown Prince Imperial. 

Here we see princess Odeliah wearing the historic tiara in 2011. 

The Hispanian Royal Jewellery Collection also several inherited pieces that are quite old. However one parure has been very well documented as its been worn by many generations. 

 The Hispanian Ruby Parure of Queen Esperanza is very beautiful, impressive yet not over the top. It did not start off as a complete parure nor as a set inclusive of rubies. The story begins with a diamond tiara owned by Queen Esperanza which is also where the parure gets its name from. The original tiara can be seen without the rubies in the photo above taken in the 1930's.

The original tiara was a gift from the noble women of Hispania, who clubbed together to present a worthy present to their new Queen upon her marriage to King Carlos X, the great grandfather of the current Queen. The tiara was set with diamonds only in those early days however, Queen Esperanza ended up with what she must have thought to be too many diamond tiaras and on her ruby anniversary decided to have them swapped for rubies. Before that even took place she had acquired through inheritance a demi-parure of rubies that just asked for a tiara to be added, so everything joined together to form the spectacular set that we can enjoy today.

The present Queen of Hispania's mother, the Dowager Princess of Cataljone wore the rubies for her last official portrait in 2010.

Queen Maria has often worn the set and also lent it to her sister on occasions where she represented the Hispanian Monarchy.  

The Princess of Cataljone, as heir to the Hispanian throne has also officially worn the set but has added a modern single strand necklace in preference over the bulky historic one. 

The Grand Principality of Wallachia boasts very old historic jewels but few with a personal touch. One parure of diamonds carries the sentimental inheritance aspect however albeit not the oldest of sets. 

Princess Xenia's mother, seen in the photo above, is the younger sister of the Duke of Swann's father. As a Princess by birth she left her country of origin with a dowry of Swanobian ancestral jewels. The Swann Dowry Diamond Parure as it has now become known is one of the most dazzling in the Wallachian collection. It consists of a Fringe Tiara, a matching Fringe Necklace and Earrings in the shape of a cross. The set was made for Princess Suzanna's mother on her 25th wedding anniversary and was then left with Princess Suzanna to become a part of the Wallachian Jewellery Collection.

Princess Xenia, the current ruler of Wallachia often wears her mother's Swanobian Dowry Diamond Parure.

The Imperial Jewels of Ruskiana are imbued with centuries of history. However very little of the vast Imperial Collection remains today. Yet, the current pretender to the Ruskian throne did gain a part of her family's history by an almost miraculous turn of events. 

In this photo taken in 1949, Her Imperial Majesty Tzarina Feodorovna, wife of Tzar Alexander III wears the more religious and traditional uncut ruby beads and iconic cross from the Imperial Ruby Parure along with the tiara. She is the long desceased great great grandmother of Grand Duchess Xenia Alexandrovna, the current pretender to the Ruskian throne. Many pieces of family jewels survived by escaping with members of the extended Imperial family. However the Imperial Ruby Parure was thought to have been lost to history as no records of it exists in the archived catalogue of the Bolshevik Government who annexed the Imperial jewels after the revolution. The jewels were in fact smuggled out of Ruskiana by an ancestor of the current Duke of Swann and hidden in a Hanoverian warehouse. There they were forgotten, only to be discovered in a sealed chest kept in the back of an old car that was proven by old documents to be the property of the Duke of Swann. In reclaiming his grandfather's car in 2013 did it reveal the lost Ruskian treasure that was then handed over to the Grand Duchess Xenia Alexandrovna. 

 Grand Duchess Xenia Alexandrovna wears the more fashionable necklace, earrings and brooch along with the tiara. 

The many Noble Families in Europa also have sentimental ancestral jewels with historic provenance. 

This Platinum, Diamond and Aquamarine Parure belonged to the Dukes of Marlboro. 

The Marlboro Aquamarines have come down the inherited line to Sir Michael Jennings, the brother of the current Duke of Marlboro, who married Princess Isabella of Hispania. She is now the proud wearer of her husband's ancestral jewels. 

The Earl of Cartwright has also passed another Aquamarine Parure that belonged to his great grandmother, was worn by his mother as can be seen above, on to his new wife. 

In this photo the new Countess Cartwright wears her husband's Family Aquamarines on her wedding day. 

There are much more such stories to be told than one can imagine as the total amount of jewellery pieces and their individual histories, no one has dared to even attempt to count. We hoped you enjoyed the few recounted her.