THE FÜRSTENBERG TIARA HITS THE AUCTION BLOCK AT CHRISTIE’S
A very versatile tiara from a European princely collection will be sold next week at Christie’s in Geneva next week—and we’ve got all the details on the sparkling jewel!
The diamond and pearl tiara dates to the nineteenth century. It was originally part of the jewelry collection of the Prince and Princess of Fürstenberg, heads of a princely house from Germany. You’ll recognize the von Fürstenberg name from some of its more famous bearers. Members of the extended family include the socialite Ira von Fürstenberg, fashion designer Diane von Fürstenberg (who was married to a member of the family), and Alexandra von Fürstenberg (sister of Crown Princess Marie-Chantal of Greece, and also a former wife of a member of the extended family).
And other gemstones could be placed where the pearls would normally sit as well. Here, in a portrait painted by that master Philip de Laszlo, Princess Irma wears the all-diamond version of the tiara with a large emerald addition. The picture was painted around 1899.
The auction house also demonstrates how the diamond sections look when removed from the frame and placed in a necklace setting. Each individual diamond element can be worn separately as a brooch or a hairpin.
Here’s one more look at the way the necklace would sit when worn. The remarkable jewel is being offered for sale by “a lady of title.” It will be auctioned in Geneva on May 11, and the estimate is currently set at 400,000-600,000 Swiss francs (about $408,000-613,000 USD). Which royal lady do you think this tiara would suit best?
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
“This ornate headdress and pair of earrings were found with the body of Queen Puabi in the Royal Cemetery at Ur. The headdress is made up of 20 gold leaves, two strings of lapis and carnelian, and a large gold comb. In addition, she wore chokers, necklaces, and large lunate-shaped earrings. Her upper body was covered by strands of beads made of precious metals and semiprecious stones that stretched from her shoulders to her belt. Ten rings decorated her fingers. A diadem or fillet made up of thousands of small lapis lazuli beads with gold pendants depicting plants and animals was apparently on a table near her head. Two attendants were in the chamber with Puabi, one crouched near her head, the other at her feet. Various metal, stone, and pottery vessels lay around the walls of the chamber.”
White and yellow gold, set with a cushion-cut Fancy Intense Yellow IF diamond weighing approximately 2.51 carats, 21 cabochon-cut rock crystals and brilliant-cut diamonds and yellow diamonds.
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.
Historic Natural Pearl and Diamond Tiara Created by Torino Court Jeweller, Musy, Circa Mid 1800’s. It Has Remained In The Collection Of The House Of Savoy For 150 Years
Commemorating the Platinum Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II.
‘A noble set designed to commend and honour Queen Elizabeth. Taking inspiration from the Order of Garter, the highest order of chivalry or knighthood. Regalia portrays the union of British tradition, craftsmanship, and nobility.
Twisted ribbon motif diamond and blue guilloché enamel in 18 karat white gold.’
Now that there are officially two-and-a-half days to go before Princess Ingrid Alexandra turns 18, the countdown to when she will make her official tiara debut, and debate over which tiara will be the first one she wears, is on.
In no particular order, here are my top four picks for Ingrid Alexandra’s first tiara:
The Vifte Tiara
The sole tiara on this list to come from Ingrid’s British ancestors, the Vifte tiara was a wedding gift from the Rothschild family to Queen Maud. Its name comes from the fact that it resembles a fan, or vifte in Norwegian. Made of diamonds set in silver and gold, the tiara can be worn either as a tiara or as a necklace. Queen Sonja inherited the tiara when she married King Harald in 1968, and she passed it down to her daughter-in-law Crown Princess Mette-Marit shortly before her wedding to Crown Prince Haakon in 2001. Mette-Marit has worn this as a tiara exactly once, during the 80th birthday celebrations in honor of Harald and Sonja in 2017. Since Mette-Marit favors her other tiaras, maybe she will pass this along to Ingrid so it can get some more love.
The Vasa Tiara
This tiara was a wedding gift from the people of Stockholm to Princess Märtha when she left home to marry Crown Prince Olav in 1929. Known as the Vasa tiara due to its central elements evoking the sigil of the House of Vasa, a former ruling family of Sweden, it was one of Crown Princess Märtha’s favorite tiaras. She shared it with her daughters, Princesses Ragnhild and Astrid, and after Märtha’s death in 1954 and her Harald’s marriage 14 years later, Princess Astrid became the sole wearer of the tiara. Astrid has stated that she considered the tiara to be a lifetime loan, and it will go back to the main line of the royal family after her death. She has already begun passing along some valuable family history to Ingrid with her gift of the badge of the Order of Victoria and Albert that belonged to Queen Maud for Ingrid’s confirmation - maybe she will pass the Vasa along as an 18th birthday present to her great-niece, so she can enjoy seeing her beloved mother’s tiara on the head of a future queen before she passes.
The Amethyst Necklace Tiara
This tiara, made of amethysts, can be worn as a necklace and a tiara, hence its name. The origins of this tiara are still unknown; depending on the source it was a gift from King Harald to Queen Sonja, or it was Garrard’s “we’re sorry your tiara was stolen” gift following the theft of Queen Maud’s Diamond and Pearl Tiara. Queen Sonja has worn it as a tiara and a necklace, and passed it along to Crown Princess Mette-Marit in 2004, likely as a push present following the birth of Ingrid Alexandra. Mette-Marit has also loaned this tiara out to her sister-in-law, Princess Märtha Louise, for the 2010 wedding of Crown Princess Victoria and Prince Daniel and the 2021 Dutch State Visit to Norway. Maxima passed along her push present from Willem-Alexander following the birth of their heir to Amalia for her 18th birthday; maybe Mette-Marit will take some inspiration from her Dutch friend and pass this tiara to Ingrid.
A Brand New Tiara
A recent tradition has been to gift princesses turning 18 or marrying into the family a brand new tiara. King Olav began this when he gifted a brand-new tiara to Princess Märtha Louise on her 18th birthday in 1989, and King Harald and Queen Sonja continued the tradition, giving Crown Princess Mette-Marit the Diamond Daisy Tiara when she married Crown Prince Haakon in 2001. Both of these tiaras have come from Norwegian court favorite Garrard, and I don’t see Harald and Sonja going to a different jeweler for something as important as their heir’s 18th birthday tiara. It would be interesting to see what comes out of the Garrard vaults for Ingrid!
