What's Up Wednesday (Emperor Christian-Victor Tours Scotney and Britania and Visits Nobles)

His Majesty King Christian-Victor of the Scots and Britons, as the Emperor is known in his home countries, has made a quick tour of the Britanian Isles with his wife Queen Odeliah. The tour is to publicly present himself to his people in this time building up to the coronation in July. As part of the tour that had him visit public parks, museums and government building he also made formal stop overs at three of the premiere Noble Peers of the Realm. 

The King and Queen used a small chartered jet to fly to their first stop, the Britanian city of York where they were scheduled for a walkabout outside the City Hall before sitting down to a lunch with the Mayor of York. They were greeted by an excited crowd which had gathered for hours before the Royal arrival.

The positively spectacular Royal couple was said to enjoy the walkabout tremendously taking almost half an hour to greet and chat to ecstatic onlookers. 

The Queen-Empress stole the limelight but not selfishly by adding shine and glamour to the more reserved King-Emperor. who seemed to prefer the cameras favouring his wife.

From York the Royal couple drove the short distance by car over the border to Glen Coe Castle in Scotney. The ancestral home of the Earl's Dysart was to put them up for their first evening of the tour as the guests of the Duke and Duchess of Argyle. 

The Duke and Duchess of Argyle were the highest ranking Nobles in Scotney to host the Royal Couple and prepared a banquet in their honour of their monarch. The Duchess of Argyle, also Countess Dysart, was more than thrilled to entertain the King and Queen in her Castle. 

Queen Odelia looked radiant in a purple evening gown and the historic amethysts bought a couple of weeks ago at auction. 

The Duke and Duchess looked their stylish selves as usual.

The Duchess wore the Dysart Amethysts piared with a snakeskin metallic print dress.

The historic Amethyst Parure is a new addition to the Imperial Jewellery Collection and had its first outing.

After a tour of some places of agricultural interst on the Scotney border the King and Queen flew back down to Britania  and Castle Sherwood, the Family Seat of the Dukes of Marlboro.

The Duke and Duchess of Marlboro were the highest ranking Britanian Nobles to receive the Royal couple and also hosted a banquet in their Majesties' honour. The Marlboros are the biggest sheep farmers in the country and as such merited an Imperial visit aside from the Noble ties.

The Queen chose a red metallic dresspaired with diamonds and pink pearls.

The Duchess wore the Marlboro Family Tiara and was said to truly enjoy hosting the Imperial couple.

There were times when the Queen-Empress had to go at the glamour alone while her husband attended to the more "boring" engagements. Here she is seen one evening by herself attending the opening night of a theater production in the Scotney Capital while the King-Emperor was at a meeting discussing tourism in the extreme north of Scotney.

The tour was a great opportunity for Queen Odeliah to really showcase some of the Imperial jewellery and that she did. Here we see her wearing the rubies she inherited from Empress Crystobel on their first public outing.

Finally another dinner with the Marchioness of Londonderry on the way back to the Aldarian Palace. The Empress had more opportunities to wear a tiara in this week than she normally gets over a 6 month period. As such she gave her new amethysts a second outing. Traveling with so much historic jewellery is a logistic and security nightmare so she had to limit her options slightly.

The Marchioness looked radiant in a turquoise dress and the Londonderry Tiara.

Queen Odeliah added some variety by wearing the necklace along with the rest of the parure.

The Marchioness was quoted to be very honoured by the Royal visit and hopes that the restoration of the monarchy would bring prosperity to all the people of the Scot-Britanian Isles.

As we move closer to the coronation the atmosphere is gradually building up to the greatest excitement felt in decades.

What's Up Wednesday (Princes Beloskaya-Beloserskaya Tiara Auction)

2015 saw another major jewellery auction take place last week. What drew the media attention was the historic provenance of some of the major pieces on the list.

Princess Augusta was once again, the organiser and auctioneer of some of the world's most famous jewels to come under the hammer.

The Princely Family of Beloskaya-Beloserskaya reached prominence and great wealth during the Ruskian Imperial heyday. They accumulated a sizable jewellery collection that was mostly lost to the Great War and the Ruskian Revolution that followed. The heirs to the family persist to this day but the title became extinct in 1974 when the last Prince died without an heir matching the house laws of succession. The last of the surviving Beloskaya-Beloserskaya jewellery came up for sale this week as a result of the Prince's granddaughter who decided to make it available. The Princess Beloskaya-Beloserskaya Aquamarine Parure was the central piece in this auction and can be pictured above, displayed with Princess Augusta just before the commencement of the day's event.

Augusta's Auction House was the illustrious venue for this and many other major sales of historic art and jewellery.

Auctions of this caliber attract investors of the highest echelons like the very wealthy Baron D'Rothchild pictured above.

The Duchess of Roswind, not an outright jewellery collector but an investor for the Van Der Bilt Family trust can be seen at left in the photo showing interest in the Aquamarine Parure. Princess Oktavia Von Hohen und Silberstein, at right, is a world famous spendthrift with the ready funds to back up her reputation. 

The Prince Youssopoff owns a very large historic collection of Ruskian jewellery and also showed a keen interest in acquiring the Aquamarines.

The Duchess of Argyle recently lost her Dysart Family Diamond Tiara to theft and has shown interest in replacing it with another.

The final contender for the sale was the Grand Duke of Reichenthal. There were also some buyers who were taking part in the sale via Skype.

Princess Augusta can be seen above presiding as auctioneer over the commencement of the proceedings. First up was the Aquamarines.

A bid by the Baron D'Rothchild.

Prince Felix Youssopoff.

The Duchess of Argyle heats up the bidding. 

A bidding war ensued beyond the expected price of the Aquamarines between the Duchess of Argyle and Princess Oktavia.

However the Beloskaya-Beloserskaya Parure went for a record price to the Duchess of Argyle.

The happy customer is seen above admiring her prize after the day's events.

This close-up archive photo allows us to appreciate the Aquamarines in detail.

Other jewellery that came up for sale was an antique Amethyst Parure that belonged to Queen Victoria of Britania. It left the main branch of the family as a dowry set of jeweller for Princess Mary, the youngest daughter of Queen Victoria who married the Syldavian Margrave of Hesse. After generations it came into the hands of a private investor who is the current seller. The Amethysts intrinsic value is not as high as its historical value and for that very reason it was bought by The Crown Prince Imperial for its return to the Imperial Collection.

The Princess Mary Amethysts are a rare survivor from the court of Queen Victoria of Britania. Not many jewellery from that era remain in their original form making this a true historical treasure worthy of the Imperial Collection.

The Duchess of Lancaster has put her least historical set of jewellery up for sale in order to raise funds for many of the charities she is involved with. The Art Deco set dates from the late 1920's and has investment value for that purpose and for its association with the Lancaster Family. It was bought by the Prince Felix Youssopoff.

An Imperial Topaz necklace of uncertain provenance but of confirmed historic Franconian period manufacture was also bought by the Crown Prince Imperial, presumably to compliment an Imperial Topaz tiara already in the historical Imperial Collection.

What's Up Wednesday (The Grand Scotney Gold Cup Horse Race)

The Scotney race season opened with a bang this year in October. Due to the rising wave of Royal popularity in that country, this year saw many A-list Royals attend the various races and of course also entered their competitors for the Grand Scotney Gold Cup.

The Gold Cup at Ascot Racetrack is the premiere horse racing event in Europa and the world's preeminent  breeders were there to compete.

In this photo we see the main A-listers in attendance; the Duke and Duchess of Argyle,the  Earl and Countess Basquith, the Princess of Wallachia and the Princess Marie-Elizabeth, Arch Duchess of Fulco D'Este.

The Earl Basquith and Duke of Argyle shake hands in recognition of a generational rivalry. The public was on edge to see if one of them would win the Gold Cup.

Making fashion statements, be they subtle or overt is as much a competition at the racetrack as on it. Here we see the Earl and Countess Basquith in matching gold, probably to lay their claim to the Cup of the same name.

The more toned down colour theme and design of the Duke and Duchess of Argyle belie their status as the world's top race horse breeders.

Princess Marie-Elizabeth, an ardent horse fan did not compete but enjoys attending races. Her angel wing facinator caught many an eye.

The fashion stakes were completely annihilated by the Princess of Wallachia's absolutely stunning silver and grey ensemble. Although her horse came second, as far as dress-up went she won by a mile.

Historic sapphire jewels were the perfect compliment to the Princess' colour scheme and explosive hat.

Barbie International super stylish glitz heels finished off Here Serene Highness' look.

As far as the winner of the race, the Grand Scotney Gold Cup went to the Argyle's and we will have to wait till next year to see if the Basquith's return to the winner's circle.

Tiaras and Trinkets on Tuesdays (The Argyle/Dysart Jewellery Collection)

The Duchess of Argyle has the privilege of having access to two historic jewellery collections. Since her marriage to the Duke of Argyle, the now Duchess of Argyle has had many opportunities to dip into her own Noble family's jewellery collection and that of her husband. 

We became very familiar with the Dysart jewellery over the years as both sisters often had to play tag team between the only two tiaras available to them. Pictured above we see at left the more modern Dysart Amethyst Tiara in its original form as it was worn in 2011 by Lady Ferrox. At right we see the traditional Dysart Diamond Parure that has been in the family for more than 150 years. 

The Coronet of an Earl, as worn within the former Kingdom of Scotney and Empire of Scot-Britania is another traditional part of this Noble Family and has been used by the head of the family for over 200 years. 

In 2012 the Duke of Swann thanked the then still Countess Dysart for allowing the Imperial Birthday Ball to be held in Glencoe Castle with this awe inspiring necklace. The Swann Choker, as it has been dubbed is said to have become a firm favourite. 

The tiara pictured above seen alongside the entire Dysart Diamond Jewellery Collection has since this photo been lost to history after its disastrous sale and dismantlement. Lady Ferrox, the Countess' sister suffered a mental breakdown and sold the tiara to con-man syndicate who by the time the authorities caught up with them entirely destroyed the antique tiara. 

Since the Countess' marriage and elevation to the courtesy title of Duchess some impressive changes has been noticed in her jewellery. Not withstanding her access to the Argyle Ducal Jewellery, the Duchess also had her amethyst tiara altered to enlarge its overall presence in keeping with her rank. The almost Imperial size new amethyst tiara can be seen pictured above. 

This close up helps us appreciate the detail of this now very imposing tiara. 

The Argyle Aquamarine Demi Parure does not include a matching tiara. The Countess Dysart seems to have received it a an engagement present from her fiance, the Duke of Argyle. The demi parure was made for the Duke's mother to celebrate her 40th birthday and includes aquamarines the former Duke won in a wager against Prince Nikolai Youssopoff. It was the first piece of Argyle jewellery the new Duchess ever wore in public and she chose to do so at her engagement party. 

For her wedding day the Duchess combined parts of her Dysart diamonds with the Argyle Diamond Tiara symbolizing the amalgamation of these two historic families in marriage. 

The Argyle Diamond Parure is said not to be of a particularly pleasing design to the new Duchess. She has however worn it several times showing respect and solidarity to her husband and his family. 

In this photo, taken in 2013 at the Christmas Ball, the Duchess pairs the Argyle Diamond Tiara with what seems to be a new sapphire necklace and earrings. The Duke is known to own a large collection of unset stones of which we may presume this new set of jewellery was made from for his new wife. 

The new Argyle Sapphire Necklace in close-up view. 

The Duchess of Argyle is reputed to love amethysts and was very lucky that apart from the light coloured Dysart Amethysts, the Argyle collection also boasted a magnificent amethyst parure consisting of deep coloured stones. This set has also been in the family for generations and recently graced the head of the new duchess in a set of official portraits. 

The last piece of Ducal jewellery is the coronet of rank afforded to the Dukes of Argyle. If we ever have the good fortune of seeing an actual coronation we may see these ancient coronal relics in use as they were intended.