Tiaras and Trinkets on Tuesday (The Reichenthal Vault Cache of Royal Jewels)

The Reichenthal discovery of historic treasures walled up in a secret room has been the talk now in the news media for the last two months. Today's post will feature a list of all the historic jewellery pieces found hidden, probably to save it from destruction, amongst other artifacts. Princess Augusta, the world renowned historic jewellery dealer, was tasked with the massive responsibility of documenting, appraising and verifying the provenance and by extention, the ownership of the jewellery pieces found in the Reichenthal secret vault.

Here we see the Princess as she was photographed, still inside the vault with the large chests containing only the Royal jewellery left there for posterity. 

One of the chests was found inside the vault left open with jewellery and gold bullion spilling from it as if it was hastily dropped there many decades ago. 

Let us now run down the list of every single piece of jewellery for documentation sake and to appreciate the new archive photos taken of these exceptional pieces of history.

As seen in the photo of the open chest, this open circlet crown is now known to belong to the Crown Jewel Collection of Reichenthal. It has been documented in historic paintings and photographs but hasn't been seen for almost 20 years since the 1996 Revolution. It is known as the Queen Consort Crown of Reichenthal and was made from gold and amethysts in the early 1500's

This solid gold diadem set with diamonds and an amethyst was made to resemble the style of the Queen Consort of Reichenthal's Crown in 1888 for the then wife of the Crown Prince. Today it would be appropriate for the Crown Princess Delrese to wear it. 

Two Reichenthal style gold tiaras are confirmed to not be part of a documented list of the Reichenthal Crown jewels but are presumed to be from the collection of the controversial Germanic Imperial Family. Two tiaras are vaguely described in a list of " possesions"  of the Empress to have been sent out of the country during the Great War only to dissappear forever but there is no archival evidence otherwise. The description matches these but is not conclusive proof. As such they belong to the current Syldavian State and will probably end up in the National History Museum. 

This platinum and diamond tiara of very fine craftmanship has also failed to produce verifiable provenance. 

This art deco style tiara of exceptional craftsmanship is made from gold and set with rubies and diamonds. No documentation or other historicity for it has come to light and it too may find its home in a museum. 

A set of period jewellery of exceptional historic and regional significance is this parure of pearls. The very obvious Ruskian design made it easy to identify from contemporary documentation as belonging to the Imperial Family of Ruskiana. It will be returned to Grand Duchess Xenia, the pretender to the Ruskian throne on behalf of and in trust of the people of Ruskiana. We hope that the government of Ruskiana will allow us to see these worn and not to just let them languish in a museum as seems to be the fate of some of the other pieces in our list. 

The Champagne State Diadem was a shock to find amongst the many pieces in the Reichenthal Vault. The reason being that history has presumed this particular piece to have been destroyed along with many other jewels in the Franconian Revolution more than 200 years ago. We will discuss the mystery along with another piece of Franconian Crown Jewels also found in the vault a little further down the list. 

Steel, diamonds and rubies make up this very unusual but elaborately designed diadem. The choice of steel is what identified this tiara as only one such example was ever made and was in itself a very unique choice of material for a ladies tiara. The Consort's Diadem of Fulco D'Este was also presumed lost in the Great War. Along with the Steel Crown of Fulco D' Este it was made from steel taken from a canon that is said to have tipped the war of independence in the favour of the Royalists. The Crown and now reunited with its matching Consort's Diadem is considered more of a symbol of the nations independence than of the monarchy per se'.  

The solid gold Consort's Diadem of  the Noble House Von Thurn und Taxis had some documents connecting it to its history and owners with it in the chest. This was a very valuable find as no records or memory of its existence was known historically. We can thus assume that it was made in Reichenthal and due to unforeseen circumstances was never sent to those who ordered it, presumably due to the 1996 Revolution. 

The grandest and most historic piece of the Franconian Crown Jewels has also come to light alongside the aforementioned Champagne Diadem. These miraculous finds pose some serious challenges to the continuity of Franconian history as far as the final end of their Royal jewels are concerned. It was long held that almost everything was either deliberately melted down and sold or was lost to looting. however these two spectacular finds prove that assumption false. How they stayed hidden for two centuries and ended up in Reichenthal adds to the mystery. It seems far more research may be required but for now it will remain an enigma. the jewellery at least was so famous in their time that they are easily identified and may return to the legal descendants of their former owners. 

The medieval Crown of Cataljone once graced the head of the independant Prince of Cataljone until the Principality eventually fell to its powerful neighbour, Hispania, in 1589. The Crown since then was used as the symbol for the heir to the Hispanian throne along with the title Prince of Cataljone. The Crown was thought lost during the 1996 Revolution but records now prove that it was in Reichenthal for routine maintenance and repair and obviously was spared for the same reason as every other treasure relegated to the secret vault. 

Another historic artifact from Hispania is the Sword of the Lionheart which was with the Crown of Cataljone in the same chest. This is the official coronation sword of Hispania and the people of Hispania are said to be elated due to its recovery. 

The Nuptial Coronet of Scotney is a very sentimental and historic piece of jewellery as it has been used for over 100 years in the marriage ceremonies of all Scotney Princesses. It to was in Reichenthal for routine maintenance at the time of the 96 revolution and found its way into the vault. It seems the foresight of the then King of Reichenthal and his jewellers are to be commended. 

The most intrinsically valuable yet not the most historically old piece of jewellery is still a national symbol and had Princess Augusta aghast when she opened the chest. The Crown of the former Kingdom Romagna was according to tradition smuggled out of the country during the Great War. It was originally made to replace the old medieval crown that was destroyed in a fire in the Royal palace in 1802. The Crown according to the smuggling rumour plainly went missing and was never seen again until now. Perhaps the Reichenthal rulers had an unspoken agreement with most Royal families to do whatever they could in time of need to save historic pieces whenever possible. This Crown will return to Romagna and fall in the custody of Princess Donatella, Duchess DiGiorgio, as keeper of Royal treasures on behalf of that nation. 

The greatest find and also most politically volatile set of jewellery is also the oldest set of Crown Jewels in Europa. Historically, the set was created to symbolize Serbieski independence after centuries of war and since then has also caused wars. Over time it has reached a status of veritable holy relic in the eyes of the people who's identity and independence it symbolizes. Made in 1250 the Crown Jewels of Serbieski is an awesome find for its historic value but politically pose a conundrum. Their return to Serbieski has the potential to incite civil unrest and an emergency meeting of the government of Syldavia that rules over the now province of Serbieski has been called. The Grand Duke of Serbieski is the legal owner of the jewels placing him under severe pressure as he is asked to not bring the Crown jewels back to their homeland until consensus is reached as to their fate. Internet chat sites are reporting massive feeds of information surrounding the discovery of the jewels predominantly calling for their return and public display on Serbieski soil. Armed forces in Syldavia have been put on "discreet" alert and governments in greater Europa have called for calm and reason to permeate the Serbieski stance.

We conclude today's post with The Duke of  Swann's statement to the press in connection with Serbieski Crown jewels:
" We hope that the joy of finding this huge treasure will foster an overriding attitude of thanksgiving in the whole of Europa and Serbieski in particular. May it usher in a new era of hope for a prosperous future set on a foundation of unity. If Reichenthal could risk the necessary sacrifices to preserve these treasures from the destruction of war, let us honour that sentiment by preserving them and our futures with the same self sacrifice."