jewels in motion

Jewels in Motion: “The Ageless Diamond”

11.05.2017 by The Court Jeweller // Leave a Comment

In 1959, Christie’s in London held a magnificent exhibition, “The Ageless Diamond,” featuring numerous pieces with royal and noble provenance. Today, I’ve got some incredibly sparkly footage from the exhibition for you to marvel at. Enjoy!

The Nepal Diamond from Harry Winston, a 79.41-carat pear-shaped diamond, was displayed as a pendant on a diamond necklace

The Northumberland Strawberry Leaf Tiara, made with diamonds presented to the family by King George IV, was on display just a few years before it was stolen during the Greek state visit in 1963

This sparkling diamond tiara belonged to the Marquess and Marchioness of Angelsey

Press materials from the exhibition state that this diamond ring belonged to Madame du Barry, the famous mistress of King Louis XV

The exhibition notes identify this tiara as belonging to the ill-fated Marie Antoinette, but that connection is pretty tenuous, if not downright disingenuous. The tiara was displayed alongside the Sutherland Diamond Necklace, which was made with diamonds from the infamous necklace that never belonged to Marie Antoinette; it seems this tiara may also have been made from diamonds used in that necklace. The tiara reportedly belonged to the Spencer family at one point, having been given to Margaret, wife of the 6th Earl Spencer, by her father, the 1st Baron Revelstoke

The diamond-studded Garter star that belonged to King George VI was included in the exhibition

And Queen Elizabeth II also loaned several pieces of personal jewelry to the exhibition, including the magnificent Williamson Diamond Brooch

The grand Cullinan III & IV Brooch, affectionately called “Granny’s Chips” by the Queen, was displayed to the public in an exhibition setting for the very first time

Elizabeth also lent her “best diamonds,” the South African Diamonds given to her as a 21st birthday present in 1947

Queen Alexandra’s fabulous diamond kokoshnik was also loaned by the Queen. Proceeds from the entrance tickets and the exhibition catalogue went to charities favored by the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh, the National Playing Fields Association and Children’s Country Holiday Fund

Jewels in Motion: Elizabeth and Philip’s Engagement (1947)

10.29.2017 by The Court Jeweller // Leave a Comment

In a few weeks, Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh will celebrate their 70th wedding anniversary. We’ll be providing an in-depth look at the jewels surrounding their wedding festivities all month, and we’re kicking things off today with a look at their official engagement announcement. The photos from the engagement may feel familiar, but when seen in motion, they take on a whole new significance and warmth. Enjoy!

Prince Philip and Princess Elizabeth’s engagement was officially announced in July 1947, but the two had been seriously discussing marriage for at least a year beforehand. Philip later said that the couple “began to think about [marriage] seriously, and even talk about it” during his visit to Balmoral in the summer of 1946. He proposed on the visit, and Elizabeth accepted

Elizabeth’s parents, King George VI and Queen Elizabeth, asked the couple to wait until after the princess’s 21st birthday to make their engagement official, and they reluctantly agreed. The press caught wind of the couple’s serious attachment, however, at the wedding of Philip’s cousin, Patricia Mountbatten (later Countess Mountbatten of Burma). Patricia’s father, Lord Mountbatten, was also in the process of helping Philip obtain British citizenship. Philip became naturalized in February 1947, renouncing his Greek royal title in the process

Elizabeth turned 21 in April 1947, and in the summer of 1947, the couple confirmed the public’s suspicions and officially announced that they would marry in November

Philip presented Elizabeth with an engagement ring made with diamonds taken from one of his mother’s tiaras. (More on that, including its Romanov connections, over here.) For the official photocall, Elizabeth wore the ring with pearls and her Diamond Clematis Brooch

Philip, who was by then just plain Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten, wore his naval uniform for the photograph session

In a move that echoed a famous moment from Patricia Mountbatten’s wedding, Philip helped Elizabeth put on her coat during the photographs

The couple provided some action for newsreel cameras with a walk in the palace gardens

A family photo session was also part of the engagement announcement, underscoring the fact that “We Four” was now “We Five”

Philip linked arms with his bride-to-be and his sister-in-law, Princess Margaret, during the session. Elizabeth’s engagement ring was also on full display here

Although he liked Philip, King George VI initially had reservations about his daughter’s choice of husband, in part because he felt she was too young, and he simply wasn’t ready for her to marry at all

Elizabeth, who had remained steadfastly in love with Philip since she was a young teenager, did not waver in her choice, even during the four-month tour of South Africa, which the palace had hoped would slow down the relationship a bit

The restoration of the Greek monarchy in September 1946 had also made the couple’s engagement a bit more precarious, as the government worried that Philip and Elizabeth’s marriage would be a tacit political endorsement of his first cousin, King George II. Philip’s renunciation of his Greek titles was designed in part to help smooth this over. King George II died unexpectedly in April 1947, before the British royal engagement could even be publicly announced. His youngest brother (and another of Philip’s first cousins), Paul, succeeded to the Greek throne

The Queen Mother, who wore pearls with Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee Brooch for the photo session, also initially had reservations about the marriage, as did Queen Mary, partly because they saw Philip as a bit of an outsider

Princess Margaret, pictured wearing pearls and a nervous smile, gained a brother-in-law through the marriage. Eventually, because her father died nearly a decade before her own marriage, Philip would walk her down the aisle at her own wedding in Westminster Abbey

The images of Philip with the royal princesses during the engagement photocall are fun-loving and playful. The official engagement announcement from the palace, released on July 10, 1947, is a bit more formal: “It is with the greatest pleasure that the King and Queen announce the betrothal of their dearly beloved daughter The Princess Elizabeth to Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten, RN, son of the late Prince Andrew of Greece and Princess Andrew (Princess Alice of Battenberg), to which union the King has gladly given his consent.”

Jewels in Motion: Karl and Zita’s Wedding (1911)

10.22.2017 by The Court Jeweller // Leave a Comment

Wikimedia Commons

Yesterday, we featured the classic tiara worn by Princess Zita of Bourbon-Parma, the last Empress of Austria and Queen of Hungary, at her wedding in 1911. Today, I’ve got some fascinating newsreel footage from that wedding to share, including pictures of several tiara-clad guests. Put on your jewel detective hats, and enjoy seeing a piece of history in motion!

“The wedding day: the bride and groom and the wedding guests with Kaiser Franz Josef in the lead”

The groom, Archduke Karl of Austria (on the left), stands with other wedding guests, including (I believe) Don Jaime, Duke of Madrid

Uniformed guests, including the Duke of Madrid, walk together

Female guests, including at least two tiara wearers, process together

Tuxedoed wedding guests — Zita’s Bourbon-Parma brothers and relatives, I think — process through the crowd

Emperor Franz Josef stands beside the groom’s mother, Archduchess Maria Josepha, who wears her large diamond tiara from Kochert. The bride’s mother, the Duchess of Parma (on the left), wears the Bourbon-Parma Tiara that has since been lost (more on that tiara here)

Archduke Franz Ferdinand, then heir to the Austro-Hungarian thrones, steps in to take a bouquet of flowers from Emperor Franz Josef

On the left, you can see Archduchess Maria Theresa of Austria wearing the Habsburg Fringe Tiara now worn by Hereditary Princess Sophie of Liechtenstein; more on that tiara over here

Maria Theresa was the sister-in-law of Emperor Franz Josef and the aunt of the bride; she was also the stepmother of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, who can be seen here in the background. The little boy in the foreground is Zita’s six-year-old brother, Prince Gaetano of Bourbon-Parma

The beaming bride and groom, with (I think) King Friedrich August III of Saxony in the background; read more about Zita’s wedding tiara over here!

Twilight of Empire

Also: for those of you who are also fascinated by the last years of the imperial House of Habsburg, you may be interested in a book I just pre-ordered: Greg King and Penny Wilson’s Twilight of Empire. I can’t speak to the quality of the content yet (because I obviously haven’t read it!), but I’m planning to review it soon. If you want to snag a copy right away, here’s a link.

(The usual disclaimer: any time you purchase a book or something similar through one of the links on the blog, a small portion of the proceeds come back to me. I use that money to purchase more review and research materials for the blog.)

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