Royal Jewels

[prince.of.preslav]

As part of my university studies about Russian history and culture I've decided to make a presentation about Faberge and his work (jewels and eggs) and I need some help. Naturally, there is a lot of information about the eggs, particularly those from the Imperial family's collection, and also about some of the brooches and necklaces they owned. And there are some tiaras and other larger jewels (even at least one parure is still intact!), also objets d'art preserved in private collections and museums. But can you tell me about some more important jewels that were/are in royal collections? Any tiaras and large necklaces? The only royal Faberge jewels I can think of are a diamond tiara from the Dukes of Leuchtenberg (later in the collection of Marie-Jose of Italy), a large aquamarine and diamond brooch (Alexandra Fyodorovna), an aquamarine and diamond parue (Elizaveta Fyodorovna) and an Art Noveau pendant necklace (aquamarine, purchised by Maria Fyodorovna for her lady-in-waiting). Can ANYBODY help me with more examples?

Any answers would be really appreciated!
Thanks in advance,
Bobby

 

[sunshine996]

As part of my university studies about Russian history and culture I've decided to make a presentation about Faberge and his work (jewels and eggs) and I need some help. Naturally, there is a lot of information about the eggs, particularly those from the Imperial family's collection, and also about some of the brooches and necklaces they owned. And there are some tiaras and other larger jewels (even at least one parure is still intact!), also objets d'art preserved in private collections and museums. But can you tell me about some more important jewels that were/are in royal collections? Any tiaras and large necklaces? The only royal Faberge jewels I can think of are a diamond tiara from the Dukes of Leuchtenberg (later in the collection of Marie-Jose of Italy), a large aquamarine and diamond brooch (Alexandra Fyodorovna), an aquamarine and diamond parue (Elizaveta Fyodorovna) and an Art Noveau pendant necklace (aquamarine, purchised by Maria Fyodorovna for her lady-in-waiting). Can ANYBODY help me with more examples?

Any answers would be really appreciated!
Thanks in advance,
Bobby

You probably need information on Russian jewels, but I only know of Empress Josephine's Diamond Tiara and a couple of tiaras belonging to the Duke and Duchess of Westminster.

Information on Josephine's tiara:
http://tiara-mania.blogspot.com/2011/11/empress-josephine-tiara.html

Link to the Westminster's Tiara Information:
http://orderofsplendor.blogspot.com/2012/02/tiara-thursday-westminster-collection.html

*This link has information on Russian Faberge jewels:
http://home.hiwaay.net/~christel/newsletters/2012-spring.html

*So does this one:
http://www.faberge-exhibition.com/g9_1.html

You might want to check this link:
http://www.royal-magazin.de/french/crown-jewels.htm

*Or this one (from the same website):
http://www.royal-magazin.de/russia.htm


*Russian Jewelry

 

[JewelFreak]

Bobby, I will put up some info tomorrow after i have a chance to organize it. A few months ago I bought a beautiful book, "Jewels of the Romanovs" by Stefano Papi. It has marvelous photographs, though he does not always provide the maker of the pieces, rather a big gap considering the book is about the jewels. For wearable jewelry the RF seems to have used mostly Cartier, Chaumet,& Friedrich Koechler, but there are some Faberge pieces that I'll post tomorrow. I'm too tired & goofy to do it now.

--- Laurie

 

[JewelFreak]

A collier d'esclave of diamonds, emeralds, pearls made for Empress Alexandria to wear to the Bal des Costumes Russes in 1903. Faberge made it using stones from the Imperial collection, 39 emeralds from the Urals set in gold, Brazilian diamonds set in silver. It was sewn onto the Empress's dress. This & the following emerald pendant were made quickly, the Empress having chosen the stones to be used only 2 months before the ball. In the 1898 inventory this collier is noted as Alexandra's private property & described as "unfinished." Sold between 1927 & 1936, current whereabouts unknown.




Worn at the same Ball below the collier d'esclave, this pendant is the only Faberge jewel retained by the Soviets from the original Romanov royal jewels. Surrounded by 54 diamonds, with an eyelet for attaching to the costume. Guests at the ball were astonished at its size, described as "palm size."



Alexandra dressed for the 1903 Russian Costume ball. She wears the collier d'esclave and gigantic emerald pendant.

 

[JewelFreak]

Turquoise kokoshnik diadem & brooch. Made about 1895. In the tiara, 54 turquoises described in the 1898 inventory as "Oriental" (Persian?) set in solid gold; Brazilian diamonds set in silver with "little golden galleries & leaves." The parts can be separated. The brooch contains 7 turquoises ("defects on the edges) & Brazilian diamonds. Present whereabouts unknown, sold after 1927.





I'm including this as jewelry because it is purely for ornamentation at formal afffairs & absolutely beautiful. Fan made for GD Xenia to carry at the same Costume Ball in 1903 mentioned above. The feathers are held by a gold disc covered with pink guilloche. The handle is rock crystal.

 

[JewelFreak]

Court jeweler Bolin created this tiara in 1900 for the Tsarina. Diamonds from South Africa, the large sugarloaf central emerald weighed 23 ct. In haste, Bolin made this tiara and a matching necklace.



The corresponding plastron, or devant de corsage, below came from Faberge's Moscow workshop, apparently ordered by Elisabeth Feodorovna, Alexandra's sister, presumably as a gift for the Empress. The original, whose fate is unknown, contained faceted emeralds. It could be separated into 4 parts. Fate unknown, probably broken up & sold.



In 1985 the Russian Diamond Fund commissioned a copy with one change: the emeralds are cabochons instead of faceted, to match better the rest of the parure.



Faberge often adapted his designs for other clients. This photo shows the ballerina Kschessinska wearing a similar jewel on a hat (she also wore it as a necklace). It is possible she received this from the Tsar, in fact, who had been her lover before his marriage & who remained friends with her afterward.

 

[JewelFreak]

Empress Josephine Tiara. You know its history already. Briefly, the briolettes were a gift from Tsar Alexander I to Josephine after her divorce from Napoleon. Her grandson Maximilian, 3rd Duke of Leuchtenberg, married the oldest daughter of Tsar Nicholas I, thus bringing the diamonds back to the Imperial Family. Faberge created the tiara in 1890. The Leuchtenbergs sold it after the Russian Revolution; it was bought by Queen Elisabeth of Belgium, then inherited by Prince Charles of Belgium in 1965 & on his death went to his sister, Queen Marie-Jose of Italy, then to her daughter Maria Gabriella, who sold it to the McFerrin Foundation to pay death duties.



An interesting video of this tiara: http://blog.hmns.org/tag/empress-josephine-tiara/

 

[JewelFreak]

Rose Brooch. From Snowman, "The Art of Carl Faberge:" A replica by Fabergé of an antique, beautifully set with white stones for the leaves and carefully graded champagne diamonds for the flower, mounted in pale gold. The total weight of the diamonds is no less than 100 carats, and the height is 4 1/2 inches. Sold between 1927 & 1936, whereabouts unknown.

 

[JewelFreak]

The tricentenary of Romanov rule occasioned great celebrations around Russia in 1913. The Palace commissioned numerous presentation pieces from Faberge, among them brooches, pendants, & rings. It was one of the last large orders from the Imperial family to the firm before WWI & the Revolution. Here are examples of their creations.

These brooches appeared with several different gems, presented presumably depending on the recipient's rank or closeness to the family. Sapphires here.



Aquamarines presented to actress Maria Vedrinskaya:



Another style brooch:



And a tercentenary ring for a man:

 

[JewelFreak]

The diamond bracelet below was not made for the RIF but is a Faberge piece, ordered by the Nobel family in 1900 & still with them.

 

[JewelFreak]

In 2009 Sotheby's auctioned a trove of items found in Stockholm, as you know. Hidden inside 2 pillows, they had been taken in 1918 to the Swedish Legation in Petrograd by a friend of GD Vladimir, to whom they belonged, and sent to Sweden along with diplomatic files when relations between the countries were ended, and their existence forgotten until 1952, when they were re-discovered, inventoried, & re-sealed, and again forgotten. During a 2008 reorganization of government archives the pillows again surfaced. Marie Pavlovna's heirs consigned them to Sotheby's.


The cufflinks with a jeweled X, above, were made by Faberge for Grand Duke & Grand Duchess Vladimir's 10th wedding anniversary in 1884. Intricate & clever, they bear the dates 6 August 1874/1884 in diamonds, along with the Roman numeral X in rubies & sapphires.

The other pair mark their 16th anniversary in 1890, with rubies & circular and rose diamonds in gold.



For their 23rd wedding anniversary in 1897 the Grand Duke & Grand Duchess ordered from Faberge 2 identical pairs of the heart-shaped cufflinks above. Enamel over engine-turning, they bear the old Cyrillic initials KG, signifying the number 23, in rose-cut diamonds.

The other pair mark their 11th anniversary, 1885, with a border of sapphires & diamonds. In the center in diamonds is the old Cyrillic numeral 11, which at the same time, forms the letters MP, for Maria Pavlovna.

 

[LadyMaria]

If I was teaching this class, JewelFreak would get full credit for research! We expect a high grade on your presentation Bobby!

 

[JewelFreak]

Thanks, Maria, it was fun. Hope it's helpful to Bobby, but he probably could write a book about it himself by now -- it's been several days, after all.

I just figured out what the letters say on the cufflinks with the diamonds & rubies. One says XVI ANS (16 Years, in French) & the other 16 AOUT (16 August). Hard to read them in the round, and I was mentally trying to make them into Cyrillic, which didn't convey much, lol. They're all so cleverly worked out!

 

[JewelFreak]

Bobby, if you haven't yet given your presentation, there's a lot of info on this site, which you may already know about.

http://www.fabergeresearch.com/

 

[prince.of.preslav]

Thank you, Laurie!!! The info is just great and so are the photos! Some of them I see for the first time or didn't know that they are Faberge (le Collier d'Esclave)! I'm partiularly taken by the last link you posted and I think we (I'll work with another person) are going to use it.
I also have the catalogue (pdf) from the 2009 sale of MP's ''trinkets'' with the info and photos
Do you know which source says Empress Alexandra's emerald and turquoise tiaras are Faberge? The sale catalogue, Prince Michael of Greece and Denmrak's book, sth else? And are the other jewels from these two parures also Faberge's work? If so, it would be wearry nice to mention them as we don't know of many that grand F jewels.

Of course, at the end of the presentation I'm going to give credit to this forum, Laurie, Christie's, Sotheby's and whichever other sites I use for this presentation!

Thanks again,
Bobby

 

[prince.of.preslav]

Time for some updates, folks!
Last night Hm The Queen of the Unied Kingdom of Great Britain & Northen Ireland and The Duke of Edinburgh attended the Royal Varety Performance at the Royal Albert Hall, London. Elizabeth II wore a diamond collet necklace (likely Queen Alexandra's wedding present from the City of London) and her baguette and brilliant-cut diamond bracelet. The Queen also wore a pair of solitaire diamond earrings (Queen Victoria's or others).

Photos: #1, #2

Today is the 65th wedding anniversary of HM and HRH and GettyImages has some lovely pictures of the couple to mark the event (also some glitter): GBR: (FILE) Queen Elizabeth And Duke Of Edinburgh Celebrate 65th Wedding Anniversary

 

[prince.of.preslav]

Yesterday was also National Day in Monaco.
At the Te Deum The Princess of Monaco wore her pearl studs, while The Princess of Hanover wore ruby and gold earrings, a long pearl necklace and a wide pearl bracelet, Princess Stephanie worediscreet diamond earrings: #1, #2 #3

At the gala at the Opera HSH donned a pair of discreet diamond earrings (and debuted her Order of St Charles!), HRH wore her diamond (and sapphire?) wings as hair decorations, a pair of diamond floral cluster earrings and a brooch - #4, #5, #6

Bobby

 

[prince.of.preslav]

Today The Queen of the Netherlands received the President of Slovenia for a State Visit. At the official welcoming HM wore her Eduardian turquoise and diamond pendant necklace and cluster earrings - #1

At the banquet in the evening HM wore Queen Emma's floral tiara, the smaller riviere with a large diamond pendant (one of Queen Wilhelmina's earrings?), diamond pendants (from the House Diamond parure's bow brooch?) on her cluster earrings and the two bracelets made from Queen Juliana's East Indies bracelet - #2, #3
Princess Margriet wore the pearl setting of the tiara from the emerald parure with three rows of pearls arownd the neck, her long sapphire earrings and the lovely diamond ribbon brooch with the sapphire pendant (I really like it that the tiara is visible this time!) - #4

Bobby

 

[JewelFreak]

Do you know which source says Empress Alexandra's emerald and turquoise tiaras are Faberge? The sale catalogue, Prince Michael of Greece and Denmrak's book, sth else? And are the other jewels from these two parures also Faberge's work?

Bobby, the diamond & emerald tiara & necklace were made not by Faberge, but by Bolin, court jeweler at the time. Faberge made the devant de corsage w/the bows. The devant de corsage was actually ordered by GD Elisabeth -- from Faberge's Moscow workshop, not the St. Petersburg one. Since the timing was near the death of Alexander III & the coronation & it matched the Bolin tiara, etc., and because Elisabeth lived in Moscow, the supposition is that she bought it as a gift for her sister, the Tsarina. It is mentioned in Jewels of the Romanovs, Family & Court by Stefano Papi & also in A.E. Fersman's report on the 1922 valuation of the Imperial jewels, published in 1925.

The turquoise & diamond tiara is mentioned in Fersman's report. He says about it: "This diadem (kokoshnik), together with the brooch forms a set. Though somewhat heavily designed it still represents an artistic object surpassing by far the brooch. It [the brooch] was executed by Faberger [sic] at the same time as the diadem,...." (He is properly, for a Bolshevik, scornful of much of the IF's jewelery.) This part of the Fersman document appears on the Faberge Research Site in the Spring 2012 Newsletter.

A.E. Fersman, a mineralogist & gemologist, was director of the Diamond Fund after the Revolution & in 1922 organized the valuation of the jewels confiscated from the Imperial & noble families, with an eye toward selling them. Among the valuers was Agathon Faberge, Carl's son, who had been in charge of the Tsarina's jewels at the Palace before the Revolution. Fersman wrote the final report published in 1925. It was issued in Russian, English, German, probably French, but not many copies printed & only a few still exist. When they come up for auction, they sell for anywhere from $10,000 to $65,000. I wish someone would digitize it!

Does that answer your questions?

An interesting side note: Agathon Faberge's cooperation with the Soviets post-Revolution was not exactly voluntary. What an exciting story -- from Wikipedia:



The House of Fabergé was nationalised by the Bolsheviks in 1918. In early October, Carl Fabergé left St Petersburg on the last diplomatic train for Riga. The revolution in Latvia started in the middle of the following month, and Carl was again fleeing for his life to Germany, first to Bad Homburg and then to Wiesbaden. The Bolsheviks imprisoned his sons Agathon and Alexander. Initially, Agathon was released to value the valuables seized from the Imperial family, the aristocrats, wealthy merchants and Fabergé amongst other jewellers. He was re-imprisoned when the Bolsheviks found it difficult to sell this treasure at Agathon's valuations. With Europe awash with Russian jewels, prices had fallen. Madame Fabergé and her eldest son, Eugène, avoided capture by escaping under the cover of darkness through the snow-covered woods by sleigh and on foot. Towards the end of December 1918, they had crossed the border into the safety of Finland.

Meanwhile, Carl Fabergé was in Germany and became seriously ill. Eugène reached Wiesbaden in June 1920 and accompanied his father to Switzerland where other members of the family had taken refuge. Carl Fabergé died in Lausanne on 24 September 1920. His wife died in January 1925. Although Alexander managed to escape from prison when a friend bribed guards, Agathon did not succeed in making his escape from the USSR until November 1927 when Agathon, his wife Maria and son Oleg, together with four helpers, escaped by sledge under cover of darkness across the frozen Gulf of Finland. Agathon and his family spent the rest of their lives in Finland.

In 1924 Alexander and Eugéne opened Fabergé et Cie in Paris, where they had a modest success making the types of items that their father retailed years before. To distinguish their pieces from those made in Russia before the Revolution, they used the trademark FABERGÉ, PARIS, whereas the Russian company's trademark was just FABERGÉ. They also sold jewellery and had a sideline repairing and restoring the items that had been made by the original House of Fabergé. Fabergé et Cie continued to operate in Paris until 2001. In 1984 Fabergé et Cie lost their rights to use the trademark Fabergé for jewelry in a law suit against Fabergé Inc.[1

 

[prince.of.preslav]

Bobby, the diamond & emerald tiara & necklace were made not by Faberge, but by Bolin, court jeweler at the time. Faberge made the devant de corsage w/the bows.

(...)

Does that answer your questions?
(...)

Yes, it does, Laurie! I'm sorry that I didn't check the previous page where you have written that the emerald tiara and necklace were mabe by Bolin, while the devant-de-corsage was made by Faberge.

Adding a photo from the extremely rare sale catalogue of the Bolin emerald necklace (so that people know what we're talking about):

 

[rajks]

Absolutely gorgeous collection of your jewellery, thanks for share.This collection beautiful and also presentable look good.Every one stay here for your ring jewellery collection...........

 

[BettyBunny]

Hi, Bobby (and everyone)!
I am a longtime lurker on this thread (since it began). I accidentally noticed that Christie's is having a sale in December called
" Harewood: Collecting in the Royal Tradition, two auctions of works primarily selected from outside the core 18th century collections at Harewood House. These feature many works with royal provenance from H.R.H. The Princess Mary, Princess Royal and Countess of Harewood (1897–1965) only daughter of H.M. King George V and H.M. Queen Mary." This sale will include Faberge, but not sure if
it is objects or jewelry or both. You may already know about this, but I didn't want you to miss the information in case you didn't.

I'll probably go back to lurking again, but I want you all to know how much I enjoy this thread! Thanks for all your lovely and informative posts.

 

[JewelFreak]

Welcome, BB! Stay & chew the breeze with us, ok? More voices make more fun!

--- Laurie

P.S. And thanks for the heads-up on the sale. I usually keep an eye on auction house calendars but haven't been over there in a bit. Sounds like a good one -- fun to check out.

 

[neil31uk]

Hi All,

Southerby's are holding an auction that includes a bow broache of HRH Princess Marina, Duchess of Kent, something of a favourite of hers (I know there are strong feelings about bows on here ) it was also formally belonged to HIH Grand Duchess Elena Vladimirovna of Russia. The catalogue lists it as follows (copywriter Sotheby's):

"The double ribbon bow centered by an oval-shaped diamond weighing approximately 3.50 carats, accented by numerous pear-shaped and old mine-cut diamonds weighing approximately 38.00 carats, further set with numerous smaller old mine and rose-cut diamonds weighing approximately 64.25 carats, one small rose-cut diamond missing. With fitted box."

I think it is just about visible on this picture.



Bobbey, does this tie your Russian gems into the present day?

Neil

 

[prince.of.preslav]

It's quite visible, Neil! This bow brooch (an all time favourite of mine) is one of the largest and most distinctive examples ever made.
BTW, Princess Maina's bow brooch was the topic of a post on Pricescope's blog not that long ago, actually whan the auction was announced.

Here is the link to Sotheby's - Silver-Topped-Gold and Diamond Bow Brooch, Circa 1850

Bobby

 

[prince.of.preslav]

(...)

Bobbey, does this tie your Russian gems into the present day?

Neil

I don't think so. My topic is Faberge only. But thanks for thinking about my project.
BTW, the project is almost ready. At least in my head. I've already covered the jewels, the objets d'art and the cigaret cases and lighters. My partner has to add the info about the eggs and we're almost ready. I've also found some great photos! Hope the teacher likes it the way it is

Bobby

 

[prince.of.preslav]

I stumbled upon this interesting photo of Elizabeth II today. It appears that HM's wearing the turquoise, amethyst and diamond set given to her by her dear friend the (then) King of Jordan, Hussein.
I wonder if HM's worn them more than than the two know (so far) times...

The Queen At The Berlin Tattoo At Deutschlandhalle In Berlin, 20 Oct 1992

Bobby

 

[JewelFreak]

Pretty suite. It's a little hard to see against her dress, but I wish she would wear it again. Interesting color combinations.

Bobby, be sure to let us know how your project comes out. It sounds like a winner to me!

--- Laurie

 

[LadyJasminevon]

You need to look twice to see the necklace, but is a pretty piece.

 

[prince.of.preslav]

While looking at the catalogue for Christie's upcoming sale of Important jewels, I stumbled upon a ladies dress watch by Petek Phillipe with a band of white metal and dial surrounded by diamonds on page 152. The watch instantly reminded by of one of Elizabeth II's watches for formal evening events. Do we know who made the British Queen's watch and if it's indeed a Petek Phillipe piece?
I'll try to find a good photo of Elizabeth II wearing it.

Bobby