Tiara Tuesday

I'm a believer in going out on a high note and since I think this will be the last tiara post for a while, I thought we'd go out with a...

Believe it or not, there are some folks who just aren't into vintage jewels. I personally don't get it, but if you're one of those folks...

Mary, Mary never ordinary, where did your tiaras go? Ok, that's not exactly how the nursery rhyme went. But it could have. Queen Mary, known for dismantling her jewels and reworking them (which I guess I can't say I blame her - I do love a conversion piece), left a slew of tiara carcasses in her wake during her time on this earth. But which ones and how many? Today we'll explore Queen Mary's long lost tiaras.

I don't know about you, but I've found myself watching a little more TV during the Covid lockdown. I tried some new shows, but most of them just didn't hold my attention. So I've gone back to my old favorite Downton Abbey. I had skipped the movie when it first came out. Work was busy and I just didn't get there. But with my renewed interest in the Crawleys, I thought it was about time. Was the movie itself epic? Well, in a word, no. It was, however, well done. And did the Tia

It's amazing, once you've opened your eyes, what you can find with a little digging. If I'm honest, I hadn't thought much about the race...

We can't do much about Covid19 or the crazy folks not staying tight at home. Bu you know what we can do? Drool over tiaras. And even better, these tiaras are within our grasp (assuming we have the funds for such - I personally don't but I hope you do) because they are tiaras up for auction! Thank heavens for Sothebys (who has most of the listings here unless otherwise noted - click photos to head to the auction listings).

I thought that maybe we might all be a little "done" with the tiaras broken down by monarchy. We've been through the UK, Spain, Russia and France. This week I decided to revisit a different kind of royalty. The (mostly) American royalty and their Hollywood tiaras.

Queen Marie-Amélie's Sapphire and Pearl Tiara, which luckily was not a part of the French Crown Jewels.

As was the case with many countries throughout history, France and its royal family has a turbulent past. World leaders to residing in exile. Grand jewels that were later sold off. But unlike Mother Russia, the Crown Jewels of France, at least some of them, remain. One intact piece is that of famous nobility: The Duchess d'Angouleme Emerald And Diamond Tiara.

And now for something totally different. A Russian tiara that we know the whereabouts of. Or at least.... we did. The Russian Pearl...

There's so much mystery when it comes to the Romanov jewels. But one would assume that we have known all of those mysteries for years. And yet, in 2012 a new mystery came to light. A long forgotten Romanov jewel - the Sapphire Wave Tiara.

When researching the lost Russian Tiaras, one can't help but be a little sad. So many lovely jewels who's whereabouts are unknown. Auctioned off (or worse) in the early 1900s never to be seen again. And so was the fate of Alexandra Feodorovna's Emerald Tiara (sometimes called The Columbian Tiara).

Ahhhh, young love. Or was it? A fourteen year old bride. A fifteen year old groom. At the hands of the matchmaker of matchmakers, young Princess Louise of Baden was fixed up with Grand Duke Alexander Pavlovich of Russia, the future Tsar Alexander I, by his grandmother, Catherine the Great.

I don't know about you, but I sure am glad that #TiaraTuesday is back. Two weeks without historical tiaras is just too long to go. I hate it when the darn day job gets in the way of my dream life. Today's #TiaraTuesday diadem holds a bit of mystery, to say the least.

So many treasures lost. It happens when a royal empire falls. Families are at best driven into exile and at worst? Well, I think we all...

Definitely my favorite Spanish tiara and quite possibly in my top five tiaras of all time you'll find the Ansorena Meander Tiara. If you've been following me and reading these posts for any length of time, you'll know that I love a convertible piece of jewelry. One that is a necklace one minute and a brooch another. Or better yet, a tiara that can still be a tiara yet also a necklace at the same time. I love the efficiency.

When I think of royal tiaras, I think of antique pieces that have been handed down through the ages, property of the crown instead of belonging to the individual. Sure, there are exceptions. Queen Elizabeth has a few tiaras that belong to her and not the state. And her sister had an amazing tiara she bought with her own funds and then wore in a photoshoot in her bathtub. There's a Spanish tiara that also fits the bill: the Ansorena Fleur-de-Lis Tiara

If it hasn't already, it should be starting to become clear that royal jewels often change over time. Take Queen Ena's Aquamarine Tiara as exhibit A. Once upon a time, Queen Ena gently nudged King Alfonso in the direction of the jeweler Ansorena, who made a diamond and pearl tiara at his request. But just like other royals in her family (she was originally a Battenberg princess, after all), Ena decided to re-work the pearl tiara into something a bit more spectacular.

For month's now I've been featuring a different British Tiara here on the blog each Tuesday (if you've missed out, sit down with a big cup of coffee and start from the beginning). But it's time to switch things up a bit. For the next little while, we'll look at the Royal Spanish Tiaras, starting Queen Ena's La Buena Tiara (also called the Fleur-de-Lys Tiara).

We're getting down to the nitty gritty now and to some of the tiaras that haven't been seen in decades and decades. Today, I'm just going to break your heart right out of the gate. This tiara exists no more. Sadly, the Ladies of England Tiara was broken up over 100 years ago and some of its diamonds used to create the Cambridge Lover's Knot and the Honeysuckle Tiaras. But.... that won't stop me from drooling over the photos of it.