In the 1960s, Hollywood’s leading jeweler Elizabeth Taylor added to her already rich jewelery collection. We are talking about the Bvlgari semi-parure set, consisting of a necklace and earrings studded with impressively large emeralds. It is believed that the precious stones used to create the ensemble belonged to Princess Maria Pavlovna, who managed to get them out of revolutionary Russia.
What happened to the remaining treasures of the Russian Empire? It is worth noting that there are quite a lot of them. It was not for nothing that the royal jewelers were considered almost the best in their field and each time they coped with the difficult task of creating unique masterpieces to suit their customers.
Today we propose to delve into the priceless archives of the Russian Empire and learn a little more about the most famous and expensive jewels of the royal family.
Maria Feodorovna’s Diadem
The second name of this crown is the Russian wedding crown and it fully reflects the purpose of the decoration. Many representatives of the royal family got married here. The diadem was created by master jewelry maker Jacob Duval in 1800 for Maria Feodorovna, wife of Emperor Paul I. For the Russian wedding tiara, large diamonds brought from India and Brazil were used, and the total weight of the jewelry was (for a second) a thousand carats. By the way, now everyone can look at this crown. It is kept in the Diamond Fund in the Kremlin.
“spikes”
The corn-eared crown is another relic of the royal family, created in the workshop of the Duval brothers by order of Empress Maria Feodorovna. The main feature of this crown is the ears and linen made of gold and diamonds. However, the Bolsheviks decided that it had neither historical nor artistic value, and in 1927 they sold the masterpiece of jewelry art to an anonymous buyer at Christie’s auction. No one has heard from him since. By the way, in 1980, Soviet jewelers created an exact copy of the crown called “Russian Field”. It is now held in the Diamond Fund.
pearl crown
This diamond crown decorated with pearls is called “Russian Beauty” and its history dates back to 1840. It was then that Emperor Nicholas I ordered jewelers to create a unique crown for his wife Alexandra Feodorovna. The author of the masterpiece imitating the shape of the kokoshnik was the court jeweler Karl Bolin.
Later, the crown passed into the hands of Maria Feodorovna, wife of Alexander III. They say that he was so impressed by the luxury of the crown that he hid it in his room. By the way, there is also a theory that the masters of the Cartier jewelry house were inspired by this decoration when creating their own pearl and diamond kokoshniks. After the revolution, in 1927, the “Russian Beauty” was auctioned at Christie’s and sold to Winston Churchill’s cousin, the Duke of Marlborough. He also gave the jewel of the royal family to his wife. In the late 1970s the pearl crown was sold again. This time it was owned by the First Lady of the Philippines, Imelda Marcos. The crown is still held at the Central Bank of the Philippines.
Vladimir crown
Vladimir Crown is another work of art by Karl Bolin. The decoration was made in 1874 by order of Prince Vladimir Alexandrovich as a wedding gift to his bride Maria Pavlovna. After the revolution, the crown was secretly taken out of the country. When the princess died, the jewel was inherited by her daughter and was later sold in its entirety to Elizabeth II’s grandmother, Queen Mary of Teck.
By the way, he changed the tiara a little – jewelers from Garrard & Co made the pearls removable and added the same removable teardrop-shaped emeralds to the set. After Mary of Teck’s death, the crown went to her granddaughter, Elizabeth II.
Queen Alexandra’s kokoshnik crown
Another unique decoration of the royal family is the kokoshnik crown, which contains diamond “rays” that magically disperse in the light. By the way, this jewelry can be worn not only as a crown but also as a necklace. And during the reign of Nicholas I, this type of crown was the most fashionable. That is why the Danish British princess Alexandra, when asked what she would like to receive as a gift from Russia, gave a very simple answer: “Kokoshnik.” Years later, Queen Elizabeth II. Elizabeth began to wear the Russian crown.
Here’s another interesting fact: the famous crown decorated with diamonds can be seen in one of the scenes of the Disney cartoon “Anastasia”.
The pearl of “Pelegrina”
However, the Romanovs were not the only ones who could boast of jewels now worth millions of dollars. The Yusupovs, one of the richest families of Tsarist Russia, had many decorations that would attract everyone’s attention. Thus, they owned the famous pearl “Pelegrina” for 200 years. This gift, passed down from the Yusupov family, was a traditional wedding gift. By the way, they say that thanks to this decoration, Felix Yusupov managed to attract Grigory Rasputin to the palace on the Moika (we all know how this ended).
After the revolution, in 1953, Prince Yusupov sold Pelegrin to the Genevan jeweler Jean Lombard for a fabulous sum of money. The pearl was last seen as a diamond necklace at the Geneva auction in 1989. Nothing is known about him or his new owners since then.
sapphire chrysanthemum
Another decoration of the royal family of the Russian Empire, which fell into the hands of the British crown, is the sapphire chrysanthemum. After the revolution, the daughters of Empress Maria Feodorovna sold some of the jewelry, including a brooch with a dark blue stone of impressive size, to Queen Mary of Teck of England. By the way, the brooch was actually part of a sapphire parure; The precious set consisted of a crown, a necklace and earrings.
In the 20th century, sapphire chrysanthemum was used by Queen Elizabeth II. It was often worn by Elizabeth. He wore it twice for Princess Anne’s birthday and appeared with her in a traditional Christmas card in 2021.
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Source: People Talk
Elizabeth Cabrera is an author and journalist who writes for The Fashion Vibes. With a talent for staying up-to-date on the latest news and trends, Elizabeth is dedicated to delivering informative and engaging articles that keep readers informed on the latest developments.
