A diamond set tiara in the Russian taste designed as flowers in the rain. The leaves, petals, and raindrops are open work. Made by Boucheron in May 1910. (Munn, p. 311)
The theme of this year’s Met Gala and accompanying exhibition is ‘In America: An Anthology of Fashion’ which apparently means they are taking inspiration from the Gilded Age (∼1870-1900) in the United States. According to the invitations, the dress code is 'gilded glamour, white tie.’ We usually see at least a couple of tiaras at the Met Gala but this year I’m hoping for a lot of them!
Tiaras were very popular for wealthy women in the Gilded Age which I love because most people think that tiaras are just for royalty and that is not true at all. The trouble is that non-royal tiaras are so much more difficult to find information about than their royal counterparts and I’m always on a mission for info into American tiaras. Here’s a few Gilded Age tiaras to get us exited!
Mary-Louise Hungerford MacKay’s Trefoil Arabesque Tiara by Boucheron, 1889
Alva Smith Vanderbilt’s Pearl Tiara by Boucheron, 1890
Julia Kemp’s Diamond Tiara by Tiffany & Co., 1894
Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney’s Diamond Tiara by Boucheron, 1896
Cornelia Sherman Martin’s Diamond Flame Tiara, before 1897
JP Morgan’s Diamond Winged Tiara by Cartier, 1901 (I’m assuming he bought this for someone else and wasn’t just wearing it around the house but you never know)
Lila Vanderbilt Sloane Field’s Diamond Tiara by Cartier, 1902
Mary Morgan Burn’s Ruby Tiara by Boucheron, 1903
Harry Payne Whitney’s Wreath Tiara by Cartier (I assume he bought this for his wife, Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, but his sister-in-law, Gladys Vanderbilt Széchenyi, was photographed wearing a very similar tiara in all diamonds)
Mary Scott Townsend’s Diamond Tiara by Cartier, 1905
TIARA ALERT: Princess Ingrid Alexandra of Norway wore Princess Ingeborg’s Pearl Circle Tiara for a new official portrait to mark the celebrations of her 18th birthday at the Royal Palace in Oslo on 17 June 2022.
The Norwegian Royal Court also released a photo of the tiara. It’s always been a piece that we’ve only seen in blurry photos so it nice to get a good look at it.
The theme of this year’s Met Gala and accompanying exhibition is ‘In America: An Anthology of Fashion’ which apparently means they are taking inspiration from the Gilded Age (∼1870-1900) in the United States. According to the invitations, the dress code is 'gilded glamour, white tie.’ We usually see at least a couple of tiaras at the Met Gala but this year I’m hoping for a lot of them!
Tiaras were very popular for wealthy women in the Gilded Age which I love because most people think that tiaras are just for royalty and that is not true at all. The trouble is that non-royal tiaras are so much more difficult to find information about than their royal counterparts and I’m always on a mission for info into American tiaras. Here’s a few Gilded Age tiaras to get us exited!
Mary-Louise Hungerford MacKay’s Trefoil Arabesque Tiara by Boucheron, 1889
Alva Smith Vanderbilt’s Pearl Tiara by Boucheron, 1890
Julia Kemp’s Diamond Tiara by Tiffany & Co., 1894
Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney’s Diamond Tiara by Boucheron, 1896
Cornelia Sherman Martin’s Diamond Flame Tiara, before 1897
JP Morgan’s Diamond Winged Tiara by Cartier, 1901 (I’m assuming he bought this for someone else and wasn’t just wearing it around the house but you never know)
Lila Vanderbilt Sloane Field’s Diamond Tiara by Cartier, 1902
Mary Morgan Burn’s Ruby Tiara by Boucheron, 1903
Harry Payne Whitney’s Wreath Tiara by Cartier (I assume he bought this for his wife, Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, but his sister-in-law, Gladys Vanderbilt Széchenyi, was photographed wearing a very similar tiara in all diamonds)
Mary Scott Townsend’s Diamond Tiara by Cartier, 1905
Boucheron multi-gem lapel watch, c. 1925. The diamond, onyx and black enamel stylized vase, with pearl, carved sapphire and emerald flowers, enclosing a watch with square dial, Roman numerals and blued-steel hands to the reverse, suspended from a graduated baguette-cut diamond line and twin gem-set cornucopia surmount, mechanical movement
Boucheron jewelry really is the stuff that dreams are made of. Mounted with a 78.33 carat Santa Maria aquamarine and around 2000 cultured pearls, the Baïkal necklace is an ode to imperial jewels.
