Tiaras and Trinkets on Tuesday (Royal and Historic Jewellery in Museums Part 2)

The Franconian State History Museum has received a Royal gift  to mark contemporary jewellery design. The gift was sponsored by Princess Augusta and donated to the museum as a record of design in jewellery for the first part of the new millennium. The piece, a tiara, was specifically made for exhibition purposes and thus has never been worn by anybody except posed by Princess Augusta for  this particular photo shoot commemorating the event. This is to at least allow the tiara its proper context once. 

The platinum and diamond tiara can be seen in this detailed photo. It is of obvious modern design with clean lines and an overall futuristic look that will make it look not out of place in a Sci-Fi epic. The piece was made by Franconia's top jewellery firm, Bartier and as such stands as testament of the pinnacle of Europan craftsmanship.

Here Princess Augusta poses with he gift.

Here the tiara can be seen in detail in its proper context for the first and only time. It will from now on be exhibited at the museum in its Contemporary Jewellery Exhibition Hall.

On the other hand a historic jewellery piece from the Franconian Royal Collection, the Goutte de la Mer Sapphire Tiara will be leaving the museum.

The sapphire tiara may be returned to join the newly established Franconaian Crown Jewel Exhibit at the Chateau Lafitte in Lyon which means we may see it worn by a meber of the Franconian Royal Family in pretense or in an official photo if Prince Louis of Franconia ever gets married.

The Goutte de la Mer Sapphire Tiara was originally made in 1804 for Princess Marie Louise, Duchesse D'Angelille upon her marriage to the Duke of Viletta. She was the only surviving female granddaughter of the last King of Franconia. She died childless and her jewellery was dispersed through her husband's family descendants until in 1990 the tiara was purchased by the museum.

Tiaras and Trinkets Tuesdays (Jewellery available to the "Punk Princess")

Princess Oktavia Von Hohen und Silberstein as always has had a talent for attention grabbing. This has found great impetus in her having access to one of Europa's more impressive historic jewellery collections. Let us take a look at some of those jewels and also the Princess'unique way of wearing them in combination with very modern and sometimes controversial fashion. 

One of the iconic appearances of the Punk Princess as Oktavia has become colloquially become known can be seen in this photo. She is wearing the Von Hohen und Silberstein Princely Ruby Parure in tandem with a feathered glam rock ensemble by Madame Frumsetta. 

The rubies date from the early 19th century and consist of a tiara, bracelet, "De Resile" necklace and opera length "Sautoire" necklace. The set is lavishly set with extremely large and high quality square cut rubies embellished with diamonds and a king's ransom in pearls. It is rumoured that the tiara so impressed the Queen of Scotney that she immediately ordered a copy of her own after a visit to the Princely palace. 

Princess Oktavia has a very bold personality and does not shy away from period pieces that may seem impractical to wear in the new millennium. In this photo we see her wear a gigantic diamond choker made in the early 20th century when chokers were fashionable and seemingly all pain was endured for it. She does gain a lot of press for being so bold and we get to see jewels that otherwise would languish in dark vaults. We commend her for this "sacrifice". In the photo above she pairs the titanic choker with a contrasting small and delicate tiara as if to say on purpose; "look at the necklace". 

Deliberate in all she does, for a formal photo with her new husband, the Princess chose a far more elegant and regal dress coupled with cool sapphires. The edginess of the dress still alluded to her "street cred" but did foreshadow the calmer vibes of future family life. In this photo she pairs the Von Hohen und Silberstein Sapphires with earrings from her husband's D'Bacqueme Family Jewels. 

The Sapphire and Diamond Tiara and Necklace is of a more modern design and was made at the height of the Germanic Empire just before the Great War. The Von Hohen und Silbesteins are one of very few Noble Families to have survived the war and its aftermath due to their extensive business interests and industrial clout. 

Another set available to the Princess is this loose mix of Yellow Diamond and Topaz jewellery. All pieces were made separately at various times but with obvious intent on being worn in combination with each other or even jewels from entirely other sets. 

There are apparently more jewels in the Von Hohen und Silberstein Vaults and we cannot wait to see them on the red carpet along with all the D'Bacquemme jewellery availble to our Punk Princess. 

Tiaras and Trinkets on Tuesday (Private Jewellery of Princess Odeliah)

Her Imperial Highness the Crown Princess Imperial or Princess Odeliah as she is known colloquially has access, by virtue of her marriage to the Crown Prince Imperial, to the Crown Jewels of Scot-Britania and the vast private collection of jewellery owned by the Prince in his own right. The question we aim to answer in today's post is; which, if any of the jewels we have seen the Princess wear over the years might be her own property, to do with as she please? It stands to reason to wonder as the Princess did not own any significant jewellery before her marriage to the Crown Prince Imperial. Our investigation however revealed that Her Imperial Highness does own some pieces in her own right through being gifted them or even inheritance from her mother in law. 

When a man proposes marriage to a lady an engagement ring, or in the case of a Princess an engagement set of jewellery is presented to the prospective fiance'. These jewels are considered a token of trust that becomes the no-strings-attached property of the fiance upon her acceptance of the proposal. When Odeliah Sorgenfrei accepted the Crown Prince Imperial's proposal he gave her, along with the traditional ring, a brand new tiara, designed especially for the occasion. It is pictured in the photo above. The tiara also came with a matching diamond bracelet which we will show in a photo below.

This close-up photo shows the Odeliah Betrothal Tiara which belongs the Crown Princess in her own right as given to her in trust by her then fiance and now husband. 

A necklace was needed to compliment the Betrothal Tiara. The Crown Prince being an antique jewellery enthusiast waited for the right opportunity and bought this art deco inspired period necklace. Its design hints at that of the tiara but obviously does not copy it exactly as the two were made completely separately from each other. This allows for them to be worn in combination with each other and with other jewellery. The necklace is so spectacular that wearing it by itself is statement enough as well. 

In this photo we see the above mentioned betrothal bracelet said to be the Princess' favourite piece of jewellery.

Empress Crystobel owned a set of rubies known as the Dowry Rubies. After her death the set, consisting of 1 tiara, 1 bracelet, 1 brooch, 2 sets of earrings and three necklaces, was broken up. Part of the set with the tiara ended up being bought by the Crown Prince Imperial's cousin, Grand Duke George of Hanoveria. One necklace remained as the property of the Crown Prince Imperial himself. The final necklace and earrings, pictured above, was left to Princess Odeliah by Empress Crystobel in her will. This shows the Empress' affection for her new daughter in law and also puts the Empress' final stamp of approval on her son's choice of wife. We have yet to see the Princess wear these rubies in public.

In 2014 at the wedding of Princess Marie-Elizabeth to the Arch Duke of Fulco D' Este, Princess Odeliah was seen wearing a necklace and earrings not associated with any of the historic or Crown Jewel collections. It was soon confirmed to have been a birthday gift to her from her husband.

The set made from gold, pearls and diamonds is brand new and owned by the Princess in her own right.

Many might question the amount of jewellery owned by the Crown Princess Imperial. They might expect her to own far more given her rank and wealth of her husband. Others may argue that given her access to historic jewels, she should not own any of her own as it is a frivolous waste of money. The fact remains, that private ownership, is private. Often these jewels are sentimental and personal gifts as can be seen in this particular collection. One thing is sure, Princess Odeliah herself does not seem to care much for glamour and sees it more as a duty to her role to wear amazing jewellery and we can be sure that she received these jewels in the spirit that they came to her.

Tiaras and Trinkets on Tuesday (Coloured Diamonds)

It has been very slow in publishing posts for the beginning to this year. So let's us get to it and also try to pick up the pace as 2015 promises to be very exciting for our Royals.

Coloured gems are common to us like Red Rubies and Green Emeralds. However we rarely encounter more exotic variants like Imperial Pink Topaz or Green and Pink Sapphire. Few people on the other hand realise that our more commonly spectacularly white friends called Diamond, may also come in coloured varieties. Today we will look at some of our Royal Jewels that incorporate these rarer manifestations of colour. 

This necklace and earrings belonging to Princess Augusta is of a very modern design and is set with light yellow and deep yellow diamonds of high quality. The black pearls only help to accecnt the yellow shade of the diamonds. 

One is sure to find coloured diamonds in only the most exceptional collections of jewellery as their rarity make them extremely sought after and by extension very costly. The Perlistani Royal Collection is one that includes coloured diamonds and in a very eye catching design. This parure couples deep yellow and pink diamonds in what may be considered a truly spectacular and expensive set of jewellery. 

One of the largest diamonds in the world is of a very intense pink variety. It can be seen above set in the Ruskian Crown Tiara worn by Grand Duchess Xenia Alexandrovna. Not only is this diamond of a rare deep shade but it is also a historic treasure with a centuries old provenance. Pink diamonds may gain a very deep intense colour but none have ever been found to reach what one may refer to as a red diamond.

Diamond colours are actually caused by chemical impurities in the crystalline structure of the stones. these mixes of chemicals allow for many interesting colours but need to be in exact quantities to allow for gem quality colours. The wrong mixes may lead to stones that are merely insipidly off-white diminishing its quality or to dirty stones that are not fit for use in jewellery. This Van der Bilt Champagne Diamonds is just that, a subtle mix of light brown and pink making for nothing other than a champagne coloured diamond. 

This close up of the above mentioned diamond allows us to appreciate its colour. 

Brown Diamonds are the most common of coloured diamonds due to the fact that one step further in the chemical mix and the stones lose their beauty and fall outside the gem quality and become dirty fit for industrial use only. However, gem quality specimens are rigorously graded for quality and beauty making the much sought after. 

This brown diamond parure belongs to the Crown Princess of Ophiri and celebrates Africanian natural wealth and design. 

Lady Arcwhite is among a very few Royals who enjoy wearing black diamonds as can be seen in the photo above. For years black diamonds were seen like their dirty cousins as purely for industrial use. However in the last two decades it was considered to grade these for pure blackness and to thus use the best ones as gems in jewellery. They are thus the cheapest of all gem diamonds and are often selected for their distinctive look rather than for monetary value. They do strike quite a particular fashion statement that only some have the personality to enjoy. Don't get us wrong, they are not as cheap as any fake stones but they are more affordable and often coupled with top quality diamonds in jewellery of the highest quality. 

Blue diamonds are extremely rare and when found are not very large. The world's largest blue diamond is set in the cross atop the Imperial Consort Crown of Scot-Britania. The stone was a gift from the South Africanian government to Empress Crystobel on her coronation and has been part of the Imperial Collection ever since. 

For more on diamonds follow the "Diamonds" label at the bottom of this post or in the list of labels at the right side of the blog page. 

Tiaras and Trinkets on Tuesday (Jewellery worn by the Shahbahnou of Perlistan)

We have seen more and more of the pretender Shahbahnou of Perlistan and a few weekends ago we saw her wearing one of the spectacular parts of the Crown Kewels of Perlistan for an official photo representing her country and people's historic heritage. For this reason we wanted to feature the jewellery worn by Her Imperial Highness Shahnaz Farah Diba the Shahbahnou of Perlistan.

Here we can see one of the photos from the aforementioned photoshoot where the Shahbahnou wore the Empress Crown from the Imperial Perlistani Crown Jewel Collection.

Set in solid gold with large top quality sapphires and emeralds the Empress Crown dates back a mere half a century. The reason being that in Perlistani traditional culture women had no public authority and where kept (culturally not physically) within domestic confines. As such the monarchy and Shah had no role for a consort seen in public. However, the old traditions made way for women to be allowed more public freedoms and thus the wife of the Shah gained a title, Shahbahnou and a crown in her role as consort.

The Crown Emerald Parure of Perlistan is a matching set of platinum, gold, yellow diamond and emerald jewellery made for the wife of the last Shah to wear at their coronation in the late 70's. It is part of the Crown Jewels and has been worn very rarely by the current head of the Imperial claim to the Peacock Throne. 

This detail photo was taken for the Imperial Archive of Perlistan and shows the Crown Emeralds up close. 

Amethysts are very common in the Middle East and thus the Perlistani Imperial Jewels include among its ranks some of the largest and best quality specimens. This can be seen in the set of diamonds and amethyst made brand new for the first Shahbahnou, our current pretender's grandmother.

The Amethyst Parure has no earrings but does include two very large stones of extremely high quality. 

The current Shahbahnou's mother was a fortunate woman. She was the second ever to have a public role and for this reason received as a sequence of many jewellery gifts. This spectaculary valuable parure is made up from pink and yellow diamonds of very high quality and as such ranks it as one of the most valuable sets on earth. 

Here we can see the coloured diamonds in detail. Their quality belie the wealth of the Pahlavi Dynasty who had access to the Perlistani mines. 

In this photo, taken at the 2012 Christmas Ball in Arcwhite, Farah Diba made her first major public appearance as Shahbahnou in pretense. For the historical event she chose a spectacular tiara set with one of the world's largest diamonds and ruby earrings and necklace to compliment her dress.

The Perlistan Rubies and most of the Pahlavi Jewellery Collection survived the fall of the Imperial House of Perlistan. Some jewels remained in Perlistan as part of the National Treasure exhibited in the country's capital. Others like this set left with the Imperial family in exile. The rubies like the greatest part of the collection, was made for the current Shahbahnou's mother.

An ancient legend tells of how the great warrior Emperor Shah Ahurah killed a dragon in the year 989 and discovered a huge diamond in its belly. As the red hot stone cooled it was said to break into 4 parts that ended up being known to history as the Perlistan Diamonds. Today, three of those stones the Perlistan II, III and IV, weighing 65cts, 34cts and 31cts are set in the Pahlavi Tiara made for the last Shah's wife.

This set of antique jewellery is reputed to come from a hoard of jewels taken as spoil from a Hindi Maharaja in the early 1800's. They have languished in Perlistani government vaults until our current pretender chose to wear them in this modern era. It creates a very strong sense of historic continuity and reiterates the Shahbahnou's new official role as custodian of Perlistani Royal history.

The Imperial Red Peacock Parure is an official set of Rubies that remain as part of the Crown Jewels of Perlistan. They are on permanent display, and as from 2013, are available for the Shahbanou in pretense to wear with permission from the democratic government of Perlistan at official events representing her country. 

The Crown Collection of Perlistan includes, almost as if required, a demi parure of sapphires. It has been worn for the first time this year for the official visit of the Shahbahnou to Hanoveria. 

The necklace design of the Sapphire Demi Parure is very traditionally Perlistani in design, where the tiara tips its hat to its Middle Eastern heritage while also hinting strongly at a Europan look. When not worn, this set may be viewed as part of the Crown Jewel Display in Perlistan. 

Farah Diba inherited many business interests and some jewellery in her own right directly from her parents. Among this was a collection of unset diamonds which set has had made up in 2013 as a very distinctly Perlistani style necklace of spectacular proportions. We saw the necklace for the first time this year when the Shahbahnou visited the Queen of Hispania on an official tour.

The last part of the jewels we have seen Farah wear is this fringe necklace. It is reputed to have been a gift from a "friend" and as such would be her personal property. If more information comes to light we will be sure to share it here on the blog. 

Tiaras and Trinkets on Tuesday (Royal and Historic Jewellery in Museums Part 1)

Apart from the obvious Crown Jewel Collections that one may view in many exhibits open to the public, we find a category of jewels that is exhibited in museums and unlike Crown Jewels, serve no symbolic purpose. These historic jewels once belonged to famous historical figures but have since ended up in museums as records of history, artistic value and plain curiosities. The main difference between these museum display jewels and Crown Jewel exhibits is that the museum pieces have never been worn since they ended up in the museum nor will ever be worn again in the context they were designed for. They are now the property of the public and displayed for their pleasure and education. They are at least often displayed with photographs or paintings where they were worn. In this new short series of posts we will feature some pieces of Royal Jewels that find themselves trapped in time behind glass display cases around the world. 

The United States of Americania Museum of History in the Big Apple displays a famous historic parure that belonged to the Grand Duchess Georgiana, sister of Tzar Ivan X of Ruskiana. She married the Count Tolstoievski and after the Great War escaped to Americania where she had to sell the parure to a wealthy Americanian Industrialist. His wife left the historic set of jewels to the museum in her will. 

This contemporary pre-war photo shows, Grand Duchess Georgiana Alexandrovna, Countess Tolstoievski, wearing the awesome Garnet and Diamond Parure. What makes this set unique is the very rare size of the otherwise quite cheap garnet stones. Garnets are very durable and beautiful stones but quite common and therefor cheaply available. However they are rarely larger than 4cm in the rough making larger cut specimens extremely rare and costly. 

 This very recent museum archive photo shows the set of jewellery in detail. It is made, as per the era standards. from silver and set with diamonds and garnets. The craftsmanship is a testament of a bygone era and the level of "made-by-hand" skill that is scarcely matched today if ever.

We hope to do a couple more of these museum features so look out for them on Tuesdays. 

Tiaras and Trinkets on Tuesday (The Szanguscko Jewellery Collection)

The recent engagement of the Count Szanguscko to Princess Antoinette D'Pont Du Lac has brought to our attention the jewellery collection of the Comital House of Szanguscko. The Counts of Szanguscko have for centuries been considered the premiere Noble House in Normandia and as such own some historic jewels. With the restoration of the monarchy in Normandia, the Szangusckos played a pivotal role in cementing the rebirth of historic Royalty. The then head of the Noble House married the new Queen of Normandia and gave up his title in favour of his younger brother. 

Queen Gloria of Normandia has since not worn any jewellery that may be considered from the Szanguscko collection due to the fact that her officie as Queen has many official jewels expected to be worn and she also owns a vast collection of her own. As such, submitting her title to the lower title of her husband's family by the wearing of a Szanguscko Family Tiara, may be seen as strangely inappropriate. Yet it is appropriate for a wife to receive jewellery of a personal nature from her husband and to wear it publicly. Queen Gloria has done so in the form of a bracelet especially made for her as a gift from her husband the now Prince of Northwold. 

In 2011,Queen Gloria wore what has become known as the Szanguscko Bracelet on her right arm. This very personal piece of jewellery is seen as her personal property and the only part of what may considered a Szanguscko jewel in Royal possession.

This photo shows the bracelet in detail.

The unique circumstances surrounding the Szanguscko Family has led to a younger brother being head of the dynasty. The public haven't seen much of the family jewels for the same reason but upon the Count's engagement in 2014 the spectacular Szanguscko Tiara saw the light for the first time in decades. 

In the photo above, taken to commemorate the engagement of his Excellency the Count Szanguscko and Her Highness Princess Antoinette D'Pont Du Lac, we can see the Szanguscko Family Parure. It is made from rare grey pearls and set with diamonds and grey smokey quartz.

In this detailed archive photo we can thee the parure close-up and appreciate the subtle colour differences of the materials used. This tiara dates back from the early 1900's and was made in a mock medieval style. It is, due to its size and age considered to be the official Szanguscko Family Tiara worn by the Countess Consort.

Over the last few years the most often seen tiara from the Szanguscko Collection has been worn by the Count's younger sister Mercedes. She has at times accompanied other members of her family to important State Events and then worn a small diamond bandeau tiara very suitable to her age and rank. Not much is know of this piece except that its design helps us to guess its age. It may have been made in the 1920's for the then Countess.

Countess Mercedes Szanguscko can be seen very successfully wearing the small diamond tiara in 2011.

This detailed photo shows the small tiara with its matching earrings and a strand of quality pearls.

Most of the Szanguscko Collection seems to date from the early 1900's as is just the case of this flapper style coronet tiara. It also employs grey pearls and diamonds and is designed to sit A-symmetrically on the head. This "cheeky" design was typical of aigrette style tiaras from the flapper era.

The A-symmetrical Coronet Tiara is complimented by a two-tone necklace. This set was obviously designed to be used as swapping components fro the Szanguscko Family Parure as parts from both sets may be readily mixed and matched for variety.

It is very thrifty to design elements of new jewellery to be worn alone or to be mixed in with existing historic jewels. This necklace and earrings is made from pearls but includes diamonds and grey smokey quartz. It can thus be matched to any other parts of the Szanguscko Collection. We look forward to seeing it on the red carpet as to our knowledge it has never been worn but with the advent of a new Countess who also brings her own dowry to the Comital Family we may be in for a future feast.