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Tutti Frutti Breaks Record at Sotheby’s

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Sotheby’s

A major piece of jewelry broke a sales record at Sotheby’s this week, and we’ve got all the details!

Sotheby’s

This gorgeous tutti frutti bracelet was made by Cartier right around 1930. It was offered for sale anonymously at Sotheby’s this week by a “distinguished American collector.” Further lot notes suggest that the bracelet was owned at one point by the famous Flagler family from Florida.

Sotheby’s

Sotheby’s provided a detailed description of the bracelet: “Designed as meandering vines, set with old European and single-cut diamonds, featuring carved emeralds, rubies and sapphires, accented by emerald beads, cabochon sapphires and emeralds, highlighted with calibré-cut onyx and black enamel.” The onyx and enamel accents give the bracelet extra dimension.

Sotheby’s

Here’s a closer look at the carved gemstones which are a signature part of the tutti frutti style. The name of the style means “all fruits” in Italian, so appropriately the jewelry includes multicolored gemstones. The first tutti frutti necklace was made in 1901 by Cartier for Queen Alexandra, whose husband, King Edward VII, had just succeeded his mother as monarch. She reportedly needed a necklace to pair with brightly colored gowns made of Indian fabric, and an elaborate necklace that paired diamonds with rubies, emeralds, and sapphires worked perfectly. (Sadly, no photographs of Alexandra wearing the necklace appear to exist today.)

Sotheby’s

The lot notes for this particular bracelet explain that all tutti frutti “pieces share the hallmark of Mughal-cut colored stones, but each piece is unique, a variation on a captivating theme.” This bracelet is set with particularly vibrant emeralds, sapphires, and rubies.

Sotheby’s

Sotheby’s also shared a photograph of a model wearing the bracelet, giving us a better visual sense of the size of the piece.

Photo generously shared by reader Javier; do not reproduce

Cartier’s tutti frutti jewels were a sensation in the ’20s and ’30s. Edwina Mountbatten owned this fantastic tutti frutti bandeau-style tiara, which is now on display at the Victoria and Albert Museum. The bandeau, which also converts to a pair of bracelets, was a part of the landmark Cartier exhibition in Canberra in 2018.

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One of Cartier’s most important tutti frutti creations was the “Hindu” necklace made in 1936 for the heiress Daisy Fellowes. The firm bought the necklace back in 1992, and it’s often featured in exhibitions. In August 1994, Princess Caroline of Monaco borrowed the Fellowes tutti frutti necklace from Cartier to wear at the annual Red Cross Ball.

Michel Porro/Getty Images

Queen Maxima of the Netherlands owns her own suite of tutti frutti jewelry. The necklace and bracelet were purchased at Christie’s in Amsterdam, perhaps by King Willem Alexander. The bracelet reportedly was purchased for around $32,000, and the necklace for another $35,000, bringing the price tag for Maxima’s set to just under $70,000. She debuted the jewels at Willem-Alexander’s 40th birthday party in September 2007.

Michel Porro/Getty Images

Here’s a closer look at Maxima’s tutti frutti necklace…

Michel Porro/Getty Images

…and at the bracelet, which includes an eye-catching diamond “vine” in its design.

Patrick van Katwijk/Getty Images

Maxima often mixes her tutti frutti pieces with other ruby, sapphire, and emerald jewels. In May 2018, she wore the necklace with diamond and emerald earrings for a return concert during the state visit to Luxembourg.

Patrick van Katwijk/Getty Images

During the same month, she paired the bracelet with ruby and diamond earrings for the Red Ribbon Concert in Amsterdam.

Patrick van Katwijk/Getty Images

In April 2018, she innovated even further at a gala dinner for the diplomatic corps, wearing the bracelet with pieces from Queen Juliana’s suite of diamond and aquamarine jewels.

Sotheby’s

The tutti frutti bracelet sold by Sotheby’s this week fetched a much higher price than the one worn by Queen Maxima. Auction estimates for the piece ranged from $600,000-$800,000 USD. When online bidding ended on Tuesday, the bracelet sold for a whopping $1.34 million! The final number makes it the most expensive piece of jewelry ever sold online by the famous auction house.

The Cartier Indian Tiara

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Photo generously shared by reader Javier

The Duchess of Gloucester, wife of a cousin of the British monarch, has a jewelry collection that outshines those of some entire royal families. Many of her pieces came from Queen Mary via the current duke’s mother, Princess Alice. But today’s tiara, the Cartier Indian, arrived in the Gloucester collection from a different, lesser-known branch of Queen Victoria’s family tree.

Portrait of Princess Marie Louise by Josefine Swoboda, ca. 1890 (Wikimedia Commons)

The tiara was originally owned by Victoria’s granddaughter, Princess Marie Louise, who was born a princess of Schleswig-Holstein. Marie Louise’s parents were Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein and Princess Helena of the United Kingdom, one of the daughters of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert.

Princess Marie Louise on her wedding day, 1891 (Wikimedia Commons)

Princess Marie Louise had a rather complicated marital situation; she was married to Prince Aribert of Anhalt, but the match was a poor one. The reasons why are debated — many think that Aribert was gay — but whatever the problems were, Marie Louise’s father-in-law, the Duke of Anhalt, apparently decided that he should use his ducal prerogative to annul the marriage without adequately notifying his daughter-in-law or the British royal family. Not exactly the tidiest of endings.

Princess Marie Louise, ca. 1910 (Bain Collection/Library of Congress/Wikimedia Commons)

While Princess Marie Louise lost her spouse, she did maintain a rather stupendous collection of jewels, even after her marriage ended. She remained a part of the extended British royal family for the rest of her life, wearing her jewels for major family occasions. This continued even after the great culling of German titles among the Windsor clan in 1917. Unlike others who took wholly new titles, the territorial distinction was removed from Marie Louise’s title, transforming her from Princess Marie Louise of Schleswig-Holstein to simply Princess Marie Louise. (She also wrote a highly entertaining memoir!)

The Duchess of Gloucester wears the tiara at the State Opening of Parliament, November 1998 (Fiona Hanson/PA Images/Alamy)

Perhaps the most impressive tiara in the princess’s collection was this pearl, diamond, and sapphire sparkler, which was made for her by Henri Lavabre at Cartier. It was constructed in the early years of the twentieth century, perhaps in the years following the annulment of her marriage; Lavabre’s tenure at Cartier dates the piece from between 1906-1921. The tiara is called the “Indian” tiara not because of any specific connection to that nation but because it mimics traditional Indian design motifs.

The tiara was displayed in an exhibition in Canberra, 2018 (Photo generously shared by reader Javier)

Princess Marie Louise wore the tiara at major royal events, including the 1953 coronation. After her death in 1956, the tiara was inherited by her godson, Prince Richard of Gloucester, who eventually (and unexpectedly) inherited his father’s ducal title. Today, it is worn by Richard’s wife, Birgitte, who occasionally brings out the piece at state banquets or at the Guildhall banquets which traditionally make up a part of a state visit to the United Kingdom. It was also “worn” by the Gloucesters’ younger daughter, Lady Rose, in a 1981 Norman Parkinson portrait. In recent years, the tiara has also been exhibited, notably as part of the landmark Cartier exhibition held in Canberra in 2018.

Note: This is an expanded and updated version of an earlier post.