Saturday Sparkler

The Marichalar Meander Tiara

11.30.2019 by The Court Jeweller // Leave a Comment

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Jewels are often sentimentally associated with relationships, but today’s sparkler, the Marichalar Meander Tiara, has remained in one royal collection even after the end of the marriage it crowned.

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The diamond and platinum tiara combines two classical motifs, the laurel wreath and the meander, in a sleek kokoshnik-inspired shape. The platinum base features small circles as well. The piece was given to Infanta Elena of Spain as a wedding present by her husband, Jaime de Marichalar y Sáenz de Tejada, and her mother-in-law, the Countess of Ripalda.

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Elena and Jaime’s engagement was announced in November 1994. A few months later, she wore the tiara on their wedding day in Seville in March 1995. For the ceremony at Seville Cathedral, she also wore a pair of diamond and pearl earrings loaned to her by her mother, Queen Sofia. The earrings have most recently been worn by Queen Letizia.

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After her marriage, the tiara became Elena’s most-worn sparkler, often showing up at events like state dinners. In October 1999, she wore the tiara with diamonds for a reception in Madrid in honor of President Chirac of France.

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She also wore the tiara in November 2005 for an official dinner at the Royal Palace in Madrid in honor of Chinese President Hu Jintao.

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She’s also worn the tiara to other royal weddings. In May 2004, she paired the tiara with rubies and diamonds for the wedding of Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary of Denmark in Copenhagen.

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In 2007, Elena and Jaime announced their separation, and by early 2010, the couple officially divorced. Still, Elena kept the tiara, which had been a personal gift to her. And in June 2010, she wore the tiara for the wedding of Crown Princess Victoria and Prince Daniel of Sweden in Stockholm. On that occasion, she paired the tiara with a jacket inspired by a traditional matador costume.

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On that occasion, Elena (pictured here with Prince Kyril of Bulgaria) wore the tiara with a snood that matched the jacket.

Grand Duchess Alexandra’s Faberge Tiara Finds a Home!

11.23.2019 by The Court Jeweller // Leave a Comment

Christie’s

Great news, tiara lovers! The grand aquamarine and diamond Fabergé tiara that belonged to Grand Duchess Alexandra of Mecklenburg-Schwerin has found an excellent new home in the Houston Museum of Natural Science.

Grand Ladies Site

The tiara was made by Faberge as a wedding gift for Princess Alexandra of Hanover on her marriage to Grand Duke Friedrich Franz IV of Mecklenburg-Schwerin in 1904. The tiara’s elaborate diamond base features numerous elements typical of belle epoque style, including forget-me-knots and ribbons. You’ll also note that the large, pear-shaped aquamarines are set atop cupid’s arrows — a touching design element for a tiara given as a wedding present. We covered the tiara’s history extensively in this earlier post.

Christie’s

The tiara arrived shortly after the couple’s wedding, and Alexandra immediately wore it for royal portraits and a grand court ball. It remained a cherished part of her jewelry box until her death in 1963, and it was passed down through her descendants until May 2019, when it was sold at Christie’s for more than a million dollars.

Christie’s

And now we’ve learned the identity of the buyers: Dorothy and Artie McFerrin, who own one of the largest private collections of Fabergé in North America. They generously share their bejeweled bounty with the public through a collaboration with the Houston Museum of Natural Science, which features a permanent gallery of pieces from the McFerrin collection. The tiara joins two other spectacular Fabergé diadems in the display: the Leuchtenberg Fabergé Tiara, once owned by Queen Marie-Jose of Italy, and the Westminster Blue Enamel Kokoshnik. (Time to make Houston a part of your travel plans, magpies!)

The Dutch Diamond Festoon Tiara

11.16.2019 by The Court Jeweller // Leave a Comment

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Here’s how you know the Dutch royal vaults are some of the biggest in Europe: I’ve been writing this blog for five years, and there are still Dutch royal tiaras we haven’t covered here! One of those sparklers is today’s jewel: the Dutch Diamond Festoon Tiara.

Wikimedia Commons

I’m classifying this piece as a tiara, but it began life as a completely different kind of royal jewel. The piece was originally set as a diamond festoon necklace. Made by Vita, the piece featured a diamond riviere from which five diamond festoons were suspended, with a single diamond collet in the middle of each festoon. The central festoon also featured another pendant diamond. The necklace was part of a collection of diamond jewels that was given to Queen Wilhelmina on her ninth birthday (!) by her father, King Willem III, in 1889. Above, Wilhelmina wears the necklace early in her reign with the tiara and devant de corsage from the Stuart parure.

Grand Ladies Site

Wilhelmina continued to wear the necklace throughout her reign. She posed later in life for this postcard portrait, wearing the necklace with two jewels that belonged to her mother, Queen Emma: her diamond tiara (topped with diamond stars) and her grand diamond devant de corsage.

Anefo/Nationaal Archief/Wikimedia Commons

The next wearer of the necklace was Wilhelmina’s daughter, Queen Juliana. Above, she wears the necklace in January 1967 for an important family occasion: a dinner hosted by the Dutch government to celebrate the wedding of her daughter, Princess Margriet.

Eric Koch/Anefo/Nationaal Archief/Wikimedia Commons

For the occasion, Juliana paired the necklace with another Dutch royal heirloom: the Ears of Wheat Tiara. Her diamond earrings also feature pendants from Queen Emma’s Art Deco Corsage (worn by Queen Wilhelmina in one of the portraits above).

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In November 1982, the then-Queen Beatrix wore the necklace with Queen Emma’s Diamond Tiara for a state banquet at Hampton Court Palace during her state visit to Britain.

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The arrival of Queen Maxima breathed new life into the diamond jewel. She was the first member of the royal family to wear the necklace in public on a tiara frame. Since then, the tiara version of the jewel has also been worn by Princess Margriet.

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For a state banquet in honor of President Vaira Vike-Freiberga of Latvia in January 2005, Maxima wore the festoon tiara with the earrings sourced from Queen Emma’s Art Deco Corsage — the same ones worn by Queen Juliana with the necklace in 1967.