Antique, Vintage and Estate Fine Jewelry
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.
While this over-the-top tiara is listed in as a Royal British Tiaras by us today, it wasn’t truly worn by royalty. Aristocrats and nobility? Yes. Royalty? Nah. But when you have a tiara as stunning as The Portland Sapphire Tiara to talk about, who wants to get caught up in the little details?
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.
Choices. It’s all about choices with this tiara. What’s that you say? You don’t like how the central element clashes with your red dress? Well, just swap it out, dear. Indeed, the Honeysuckle Tiara is one of the best kinds – it’s convertible!
I’m back with the final chapter in my visit to London and Kensington Palace, where I got to see the three tiaras on display there, as part of the Victoria Revealed Exhibit. And I have to say, this is my favorite chapter. And favorite tiara of the three. In fact, one of my top three tiaras… ever. Yes. Ever. The Fife Tiara.
Oh to have a husband that loves to dabble in amazing jewelry creations and then gift them to me. Alas, I do not have such a husband. Queen Victoria did, however, and good ol’ Albert created gorgeous pieces for her, including what we now call Queen Victoria’s Emerald Tiara, to match some other amazing emerald jewels he’d made for her. Let’s discuss, shall we?
There are tiaras that are instantly recognizable (we’ve featured several that fit into that category). And then there are tiaras who’s style was so fashionable “everyone” had to have one. But then, that made it hard to distinguish from one another. Such an unfortunate problem to have, right? And today’s #TiaraTuesday feather, The Fife Fringe Tiara is one of the latter.
Do you have any pieces of jewelry in your jewelry box that you haven’t worn in over eighty years? We didn’t think so. But if you’re the British Royal family and we’re talking about the Royal jewelry vaults… well, maybe things just get a bit lost in there. Apparently the Teck Crescent Tiara is holed up inside, just waiting for the light of day.
Another one bites the dust. It was a common refrain when discussing Queen Mary and her tiaras. Just when folks would fall in love with one of her lovely tiaras, she’d get a wild hair and have it dismantled to make a different piece of jewelry. And so goes the Boucheron Loop Tiara.
We can always count on Queen Mary when it comes to fabulous tiaras. That woman had a penchant for turning something lovely into one heck of a statement piece. And I’m fairly certain she never ran into a jewel she didn’t like. At least for a while. In today’s episode of #TiaraTuesday, we’ll discuss one of her Grande Dame tiaras: The Delhi Durbar Tiara.
I bet you think that the current Queen, Elizabeth the II is the longest living British royal. And you’d think wrong. She’s the longest reigning royal. But the longest living royal, a princess who was a first cousin twice removed and the great aunt to Elizabeth, holds the honor. Her name was Alice and she lived to be almost 98 years old. And this is the story of her favorite tiara.
Ooooooo. We love it when we run into some royal tiara drama. The intrigue. The mystery. The did she or didn’t she! As with any royal family, the British Royals aren’t without a little drama when it comes to some of the royal jewels in the vaults. And the Grand Duchess Vladimir Tiara certainly provided a little drama.