Zu Ihrem 15. Jahrestag 1911 kaufte Großfürst Kyrill bei Cartier
in St Petersburg, für seine Gemahlin Victoria-Melitta von Sachsen-Coburg dies Saphirhalsband von empirehafter Schönheit, an dem ein eiförmiger
Cabochon Saphir von 311Karat hing, der seiner Großmutter gehörte, der Kaiserin Marie Alexandrovna.
Das lange Art deco Diamantcollier mit den brillantbesetzten langgezogenen
Gliedern und dem eiförmigem in Cabochon geschliffen
von 311,33 ct , hatte im Mittelpunkt einen weiteren Sternsaphir Saphircabochon
von 35,13ct, gefasst.
Grandeur und Großartigkeit ganz im Geschmack der russischen Kunden,
brachten solch imposante Schöpfungen der St Petersburger und Pariser
Juweliere zu ihrem Ruf. Ein Saphir von dieser enormen Grösse
und Farbe, gehört sicher zu den grössten Saphiren der Welt,
ein Juwel für Liebhaber von exquisitem und ausgefallenem Schmuck
die Raritäten schätzen.
Die Großfürstin Kirill, verkaufte dieses Sautoir später an
ihre Schwester Königin Marie von Rumänien, die gerade ein
passendes Hochzeitsgeschenk für ihre älteste Tochter Prinzessin
Elisabeth von Rumänien suchte.
Victoria Melita Feodorovna Princess of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, Grand Duchess
of Russia, in 1894 married Ernst Ludwig of Hesse, (divorced 1900),
and in 1905 married the Grand Duke Kirill Vladimirovitch of Russia.
A war broke out between Russia and Japan. As a senior member of the navy, Kirill was sent on active service to the front in the Russo-Japanese War. His ship was blown up by a Japanese mine while entering Port Arthur and he was one of the few survivors. Sent home to recover, the Tsar finally allowed him permission to leave Russia and he left for Coburg to be with Victoria The narrow escape from death had hardened Kirill's determination to marry Victoria. "To those over whom the shadow of death has passed, life has a new meaning," Kirill wrote in his memoirs. "It is like daylight. And I was now within visible reach of fulfillment of the dream of my life. Nothing would cheat me of it now. I had gone through much. Now, at last, the future lay radiant before me." The couple married on 8 October 1905 in Tegernsee. It was a simple ceremony, with Victoria's mother, her sister Beatrice, and a friend, Count Adlerburg, in attendance, along with servants. The couple's uncle Grand Duke Alexei Alexandrovich of Russia was invited, without being told the reason
.As a wedding gift, Victoria Melita ’s mother presented her with a remarkable pair of emerald and diamond earrings, renowned for their exceptional quality. They had been purchased from the famed Jewish jeweler Rosenau* in Munich, known for sourcing gemstones of unparalleled brilliance—so rare that others could never match his quality. The Duchess of Coburg later wrote about the earrings in her letters to Queen Marie, expressing her admiration for their exquisite beauty - she noted "the same as yours, it was her wish" .
He presented her with this magnificent sapphire and diamond sautoir, crafted by Cartier in 1911, as a gift for their 15th anniversary—marking 15 years since they fell in love during the imperial coronation in St. Petersburg in May 1896. The exquisite piece featured a breathtaking cabochon sapphire pendant weighing 311.33 carats, while the central star sapphire cabochon of 35.13 carats was elegantly surrounded by dazzling diamonds.learn more about the order and history of this sapphire.
As the wife of Grand Duke Kirill, eldest son of Grand Duchess Wladimir,
her fortune was limited to her jewelry after fleeing Russia. At that
time the European market was inundated with precious stones from Germany,
Russia and Austria and anyone wishing to sell their jewellery rarely
obtained a fair price. The important sapphire has his own history.
When in 1921 Queen Marie of Romania, sister of Victoria Melita, was
looking to compose her eldest daughter’s wedding trousseau,
she bought this diamond sautoir from which a huge egg-shaped cabochon
sapphire, weighing three hundred and eleven carats, was suspended.
This Cartier creation marked the wedding of Princess Elizabeth and Crown Prince Georg of Greece.
Victoria Melita, Princess of Great Britain and Ireland, of Edinburgh,
and of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, was the daughter of Alfred, Duke of
Edinburgh, the second eldest son of Queen Victoria.
Her son, Vladimir Kirilovich was extremely well educated and spoke
Russian as well as French, English, German and Spanish, and was devoted
to the Russian Orthodox Church. With the death of his father in 1938,
Grand Duke Vladimir Kirilovich came to be seen as the only legitimate
heir to the throne, as all the other surviving claimants had married
morganatically, thus excluding themselves.
Grand Duke Vladimir Kirilovich married Princess Leonida Georgievna
Bagration-Mukhransky, the daughter of the Head of the Georgian Imperial
House. On December 23, 1953 in Madrid they had a daughter, Grand Duchess
Maria Vladimirovna.
In some circles outside the Soviet Union, he was considered the rightful
heir to the Romanov throne.
On December, 23, 1969, Grand Duke Vladimir Kirilovich declared that
upon his death his daughter Grand Duchess Maria Vladimirovna would
succeed him. Grand Duke Vladimir Kirilovich died in Miami and, in
one of the more startling events of the early post-Soviet period,
was buried on May 29, 1992 in the Grand-ducal tomb of the Peter and
Paul Fortress in Saint Petersburg.
*Thank you to Grigore for this information! Source:Elisabeta, Principesa României, regină Greciei , Visuri spulberate. D Manache.
...The jeweller Rosenau had a presence in Munich at Theatinerstraße 41, as well as in Bad Kissingen, where he established his first workshop. Bad Kissingen is home to an extensive research collection on Jewish history, which deeply moved me as I learned about the stories.
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