Saturday Sparkler

Archduchess Marie Valerie’s Pearl Tiara

11.09.2019 by The Court Jeweller // Leave a Comment

Dorotheum

At the end of October, an Austrian auction house announced the upcoming sale of an exciting suite of royal jewelry: a tiara and corsage ornament that belonged to the youngest daughter of one of Austria’s last emperors.

Dorotheum

Both jewels were made around 1890 by Kochert, the firm that served as court jeweler to the Austrian imperial family. The tiara is set with around 25 carats’ worth of diamonds and 15 pearls, some of them baroque. The large brooch is set with six more pearls and more old-cut diamonds. The tiara was made by Wilhelm Friedrich Haarstrick, one of the managers of the Kochert atelier, while the brooch was constructed by A.E. Kochert himself.

Archduchess Marie Valerie, ca. 1890 (Wikimedia Commons)

Both jewels were made around 1890, the same year that their first owner was married. Archduchess Marie Valerie of Austria was the youngest of the four children of Emperor Franz Josef and Empress Elisabeth of Austria. Born a decade later than the rest of her siblings, Valerie was the treasured baby of the family, indulged by her mother and allowed to marry a husband of her own choosing. She selected a second cousin, Archduke Franz Salvator, part of the Italian branch of the Habsburg family. They were officially engaged on Christmas Eve in 1888.

Marie Valerie and Franz Salvator (Wikimedia Commons)

But fate and tragedy intervened shortly afterward. A month after Valerie’s engagement was officially announced, Crown Prince Rudolf of Austria killed himself and his mistress, Baroness Mary Vetsera, at his hunting lodge, Mayerling. The death of Rudolf, who was Valerie’s only brother, plunged the family into despair and left the imperial succession perilously resting on the shoulders of a cousin, Archduke Franz Ferdinand. (And we all know how that turned out, sadly.) Valerie stayed by the side of her grieving mother, Empress Elisabeth, for months, postponing her wedding until the summer of 1890.

Dorotheum

Valerie and Franz Salvator were finally wed in July 1890, and the wedding presents lavished on the bride were incredible. One newspaper article noted that the display of the gifts took up an entire apartment in the imperial palace, with “three beautiful diadems, with brooches to match” among the splendor. The notes from the auction house do not specify whether this tiara and brooch were among those wedding presents, but the date of their creation certainly makes that a real possibility.

Dorotheum

In their report on Valerie’s wedding, the London Times made it clear that Valerie herself was the brightest jewel present on the day: “Little more remains to be said of the wedding except this — that no Archduchess on her marriage day ever carried more truly with her the good wishes of a whole people. The Archduchess Marie Valerie has been her mother’s constant companion and will be most sadly missed by her. To her father she has ever been all that a daughter should be, the delight of his home and his comfort in days of sorrow. A good, brave-hearted girl, gifted with many talents and with a bright, winning face, the young Archduchess deserved to make, as she has made, a pure love match. The other day the Emperor said, with a mixture of joy and sadness, ‘This marriage will be my last happiness.’ Everybody will hope for many years of happiness to the bride, to her husband, and to the parents whom she loves so well.”

Franz Salvator and Marie Valerie with eight of their children, ca. 1905 (Wikimedia Commons)

The marriage was a happy one to start. Valerie and Franz Salvator were genuinely in love, and they had ten children together over the following two decades. They raised their family in Schloss Wallsee (which they purchased from Queen Victoria’s second son, Prince Alfred, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha) on the Danube. But more losses and disappointments followed. Valerie’s mother, Empress Elisabeth, was murdered in Switzerland in 1898. And Franz Salvator turned out to be perhaps not the wisest choice for a spouse after all. He was frequently unfaithful, even formally acknowledging an illegitimate son during his marriage to Valerie.

Marie Valerie, ca. 1912 (Wikimedia Commons)

Valerie’s father died in 1916, and at the end of World War I, the Habsburg dynasty in Austria officially ended. Valerie and her family were permitted to keep their home and stay in the country — but only after she formally recognized the end of the monarchy. (She’d already given up her personal succession rights years earlier, as part of her marriage ceremonies.) She died of cancer at Schloss Wallsee in 1924. The tiara and brooch were left to her descendants.

Dorotheum

According to the literature provided by the Dorotheum, the tiara and brooch stayed in the family until this year; they are being offered for sale by some of Valerie’s descendants. The tiara is estimated to sell for between 100,000-200,000 euros (about $110,000-$220,000 USD), while the brooch is expected to fetch between 60,000-100,000 euros (around $66,000-$110,000 USD). The auction will be held in Vienna on November 27.

The Essex Tiara

10.26.2019 by The Court Jeweller // Leave a Comment

FRANCOIS GUILLOT/AFP/Getty Images

Tiara designs often fall into two categories: either they stand as a specific example of design from their era, or they manage to transcend that time period. Today’s sparkler, the Essex Tiara, definitely falls into the “timeless” category.

Wikimedia Commons

The diamond scroll tiara was made in 1902 by Cartier. It was made with a specific event in mind: the upcoming coronation of King Edward VII. The original wearer of the tiara was as elegant and rich as the tiara’s design: Adele Beach Grant, the American railway heiress who married the 7th Earl of Essex in 1893. The earl bought the tiara for Adele just before the coronation, and she wore it in Westminster Abbey on Coronation Day in August 1902.

Wikimedia Commons

American newspapers declared that Adele was “the belle of the coronation,” envied by other peeresses for her “grace and discretion” — as well as her tiara and hairstyle, which featured one long curl carefully resting on her shoulder. She remained a glittering light in London’s aristocratic social world until 1916, when her husband was struck by a taxi and died. The ensuing death duties on the estate forced her to sell off the family’s grand country house and many of its contents, including numerous pieces of fine art. The strain was such that she died of a heart attack in the summer of 1922, shortly after the auction was held.

Hulton Archive/Getty Images

Adele’s gorgeous coronation tiara, however, found itself brought back to life again and again by subsequent wearers. The piece even witnessed a second British royal coronation. In 1953, the tiara was borrowed by Clementine Churchill, wife of Sir Winston, who wore it in Westminster Abbey for the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. (We don’t know precisely who owned the tiara at this point, but clearly they were quite happy to lend the piece to such an important British figure for the event!)

In 1990, the piece was auctioned at Christie’s and bought by a diamond dealer. (Unfortunately, this transaction too is a little shrouded in mystery — we don’t seem to know the name of the purchaser.) The dealer quickly resold the tiara, and to an important buyer: the director of the Cartier Collection. The jewelry firm that made the tiara has owned it every since, and they were happy to loan it out for another important royal occasion. In 1996, Crown Princess Margareta, daughter of the last King of Romania, borrowed the tiara from Cartier for her wedding in Lausanne. An exhibition of Cartier Collection jewels was conveniently mounted in Lausanne in the same year.

Evan Agostini/Getty Images

Today, the tiara remains a prominent part of the Cartier Collection, and it is often featured in promotional materials about Cartier’s legacy jewels. In November 2004, to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Cartier Holiday Bow tradition at the Cartier Mansion on Fifth Avenue, an enormous replica of the tiara was placed above the building’s door.

Evan Agostini/Getty Images

For a party at the Cartier mansion during the same holiday season, the tiara itself was an honored guest, featuring in photos with Santa Claus (!) and actress Julianne Moore. (Santa, if you’re listening, the tiara would be a perfect gift for me this Christmas…)

NICOLAS ASFOURI/AFP via Getty Images

As it has become such a beloved part of the Cartier Collection, it should come as no surprise that the tiara is often loaned to exhibits around the world. Above, it’s displayed at a museum in Portugal in February 2007, and it has also been included in prominent exhibitions in France and Australia. It was even worn by Rihanna for a photo shoot in 2016!

The Noor-ol-Ain Tiara

10.19.2019 by The Court Jeweller // Leave a Comment

Mohammed Reza Pahlavi and Farah Diba on their wedding day, December 1959 (AFP via Getty Images)

The Treasury of National Jewels in Iran holds a stunning collection of gems and jewels from the Persian imperial past. Today, we’ve got a closer look at one of the nation’s most important treasures: the Noor-ol-Ain Tiara.

The Noor-ol-Ain Tiara, ca. 1967 (Wikimedia Commons)

The tiara was commissioned by Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the last Shah of Iran, in 1958. The piece was made by Harry Winston and set with white, pink and yellow diamonds. The largest stone in the tiara is one of the largest pink diamonds in the world: the 60-carat Noor-ol-Ain Diamond, brought to present-day Iran from India in the 18th century by Persian soldiers. The diamond’s name means “the light of the eye.”

The Shah and Farah Diba on their wedding day, December 1959 (Central Press/Getty Images)

A year after the tiara was made, it was worn for the last major royal wedding ever held in Iran. The bride, Farah Diba, was the Shah’s third wife. He had been married and divorced twice before, and his third marriage was motivated in part by his need for a male heir. His only daughter, Princess Shahnaz, helped coordinate his relationship with Farah, who was a twenty-one-year old architecture student in Paris when they met. They were engaged in November 1959, and their wedding was held that December.

Farah Diba on her wedding day, December 1959 (AFP via Getty Images)

On her wedding day, Farah paired the tiara with a diamond necklace, a diamond bracelet, and earrings with large, pear-shaped yellow diamond drops. Her wedding gown was designed by Yves Saint Laurent, who was working at the time for Dior. The heavily-embroidered gown was sleeveless but featured a matching coat.

Queen Fabiola of Belgium, Mohammed Reza Pahlavi, Farah Pahlavi, and King Baudouin of Belgium at the Marble Palace in Iran, November 1964 (AFP/Getty Images)

Farah wore the tiara regularly for gala events during her husband’s remaining years on the throne. Above, she wears the tiara during a banquet given at the Marble Palace during an official visit from King Baudouin and Queen Fabiola of Belgium in 1964.

Farah Pahlavi wears the tiara during the Belgian royal visit, November 1964 (AFP/Getty Images)

Here’s a closer look at Farah in the tiara on that particular occasion.

Farah Pahlavi wears the tiara, October 1971 (AFP/Getty Images)

When the Pahlavi family was exiled from Iran in the late 1970s, this tiara stayed behind. It is state property, and today, it’s held in the Central Bank in Tehran with the rest of the national jewel collection.