Queen Alexandra, at the Duchess of Devonshire’s costume ball, is wearing another wedding present.
In 1863, she received from Queen Victoria this suite of Indian ornaments, comprising a collar, armlet and two bracelets, made from uncut emeralds, diamonds and pearls. The seven-row collar of pearl and emerald beads was hung with a multitude of pearl drops and diamond pendants, which were enamelled on the back.
Queen Alexandra | Princess of Wales| Ladies of Leeds Diamond Bracelet Wedding Gift – Opal and with the brilliants, the gift of the Ladies of Manchester
Van Cleef & Arpels worked the emeralds into a diamond necklace in platinum for Eugenia Niarchos, with largest pear shaped emeralds as the focal point.
The center stone of the tiara, weighing 12.04 cts, was reworked into a ring in platinum, see above.
For Eugenie Niarchos, two of the large quatrefoil emeralds were made into earrings – with a top of oval emeralds to hang in and out.
Furthermore, the large bracelet with five oval emeralds from the tiara, received a diamond frame in platinum and can be seen in the picture above and follow the link for more imperial history
Marie Louise went to Vienna after the fall of Napoleon I and took with her her personal jewelery, including the emarald parure. The parure stayed in the Habsburg family until 1953. Then a Scandinavian decendant of the Habsburg family sold the diadem and kept the other pieces of the parure. They sold it to the famous Jewelhouse Van Cleef and Arpels.
They replaced the emeralds with turquoises and sold it to Mrs. Merriweather Post. Majorie Merriweather Post, is seen above, wearing the famous jewel. She donated the diadem to the Smithsonian Institution in 1966. See above in the pictures, update about the history
In 1946 the Parure crossed destroyed Europe, hidden in a harness. In fact, Archduke Karl Albrecht left the castle in Zywiec in southern Poland with his wife Archduchess Alice and their daughters on a rickety horse cart. Imprisoned by the Nazis and then persecuted by the Polish Communists, they were forced into exile. Crossing Poland, Germany and parts of Denmark, they finally managed to reach Sweden, the country of birth of Princess Alice. The hurriedly hidden jewels were her only valuables. The diamond and emerald parure – tiara, necklace, earrings and brooch found its way to Van Cleef & Arpels in New York at the beginning of 1953. The emeralds from Columbia, which are of considerable size, also have a well-known origin; Napoleon I gave them to his second wife, Empress Marie Luise, an Austrian Archduchess. The design above of the Napoleonic Tiara shows the original version and the emeralds in detail and their size, from left to right the top large emeralds have a weight of: 8.05ct, 12.15ct, 13.43ct, 12.04ct, 6.31ct, 13.20ct, 12.46ct, 6.82ct, the oval emeralds in the center 6.31ct The middle row and lower emeralds 2.16 ct, 1.34 ct, 2.59 ct, 3.25 ct, 2.77 ct, 5.41 ct, 1.32 ct; 1.39 ct, 5.43 ct; 3.50 ct, 3.31 ct, 2.60 ct, 2.23 ct, 1.34 ct, 2.80 ct. After her death in 1847, Marie-Louise bequeathed the Parure with the diadem, the emerald necklace, the emerald earrings and the emerald brooch to her Habsburg relatives.
Click on the link above, for more about the history – an update of the story….
After 25 years of marriage, the queen, presented a turquoise and diamond brooch on the occasion of the silver wedding day, to the Duchess and the Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha.
More about the Duchess of Saxe-Coburg & Gotha historic Royal Emerald Jewelry | Alexandrine Duchess of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha Wedding Gift Royal Marriage Presents
Schmuck und Juwelen der Deutsche Fürstenhäuser | Royal Jewels – Historical Jewerly and Treasure of Royals and Aristocracy | bijoux historiques| исторические драгоценности