Wedding gift to George V and Queen Mary, when Duke and Duchess of York, from Sir Augustus and Lady Harris, 6 July 1893

A pair of engine-turned gold opera glasses, scattered with diamonds and ringed with pearls at both the looking and viewing ends of each glass, the central hinge with a diamond-set octagonal twister and pearl finial.

Tiffany & Co. were well known for their production of luxury items, but opera glasses of gold were rare – usually the surfaces were mother-of-pearl or enamel, in imitation of eighteenth-century pieces. Here the firm have used engine-turning to create a decorative surface to the gold, which has been adorned with rose-cut diamonds.

It will be on display at the exhibition of „Gold“ . Glittering gold accessories spanning six generations of Queens and Consorts go on display in Scotland for the first time, at The Queen’s Gallery, Palace of Holyroodhouse, 27 March –
26 July 2015