Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Tiaras

From the Wall Street Journal:
This renewed interest in tiaras is likely to heighten in coming months as Queen Elizabeth II—the woman said to have the finest collection in the world—dons a glittering assortment for her Diamond Jubilee, and exhibitions mark the occasion. At Buckingham Palace, her majesty's "Girls of Great Britain" tiara, made by Garrard, and other personal jewels will be available for closer study in "Diamonds: A Jubilee Celebration," opening June 30. The fairy-tale diamond tiara, with its delicate festoon-and-scroll design, was presented to Princess Victoria Mary of Teck, who later became Queen Mary, as a wedding gift in 1893, on behalf of the "Girls of Great Britain and Ireland." She passed it on to her granddaughter Elizabeth on her wedding day in 1947.

Last year, Prince Albert II of Monaco's wedding gift to his bride, now Princess Charlene, was the "Océan" tiara [above], fashioned from diamonds and sapphires by Van Cleef & Arpels. But it isn't only royals with state banquets to attend who go shopping for bespoke tiaras. "With the growth of republics and democracy, so many courts vanished in the 20th century and therefore the tiara assumed a decorative value. It no longer has the same political implication," says Diana Scarisbrick, a London-based jewelry historian and author whose books include "Timeless Tiaras." "But always it is to transform the looks to make you look rather more special than the next person." (Read entire article.)
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