‘The Andean Cross’, carved from one piece of emerald, one of a kind gem - are presented to Princess Beatrice, from Queen Victoria.
Above in the picture Princess Beatrice wearing the famous emerald cross on the occassion of the baptims of Infanta Beatrice in 1909.
The baptism present to Infanta Beatriz of Spain, Princess of Civitella-Cesi ,Doña Beatriz Isabel Federica Alfonsa Eugénie Cristina Maria Teresia Bienvenida Ladislàa de Borbón y Battenberg; 22 June 1909 – 22 November 2002 was a daughter of King Alfonso XIII of Spain and Victoria Eugenie of Battenberg, wife of Alessandro Torlonia, 5th Prince di Civitella-Cesi.
A mystery is solved: when Infanta Beatrice was christened, the baptism gift from her grandmother was the Imperial Andean Emerald Cross.
It was a long time puzzle, on which way this jewel is gone to the Spanish royal family and on which occasion.
In 1909 the Infantas christening was the point, in later time Princess Beatrice lent the emerald cross from her granddaughter, and it was not in the possession of Queen Ena, which wore it seldom, she lent it also from her child......
We see also in the picture a large diamond necklace the gift to Queen Victoria Eugenia, Ena Battenberg the mother of the baby. The Andean Cross is in the center of the display.
Above with her youngest daughter she married Paul-Annick Weiller in1965.
The Andean Cross was sold in 1937 from the Princess Torlonia to bought by Mr Simon Patiño. Cartier redesigned it into a new Art Deco necklace using over 100 carats of the finest emeralds. The necklace was worn by his wife, and later by their granddaughter, Countess Albina du Boisrouvray.
The emerald cross was probably sold in 1975, from Mrs Patino to Van Cleef and Arpels.
The emerald cross resurfaced in 1984 with Olympia Torlonia, the granddaughter of Queen Ena, who reportedly received it as a gift from her wealthy father-in-law, Mr. Weiller. However, in 1989, it was stolen during a trip from Geneva to Paris. The cross was uninsured at the time, and it was never recovered. The trail went cold until 2017, when it quietly appeared in a Sotheby’s Geneva catalogue, with an estimated value of €450,000 to €650,000. The lot was quickly withdrawn. The seller, a Spanish jeweler, claims the cross came into his possession in the 1990s through his father. Olympia Torlonia Weiller, subsequently filed a lawsuit. In 2023, a Swiss court ruled against her, citing uninterrupted possession by the jeweler’s family and the statute of limitations. The whereabout is unknown, yet.
Source:ABC;Sotheby’s;Archive Ursula Butschal
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