As the Royal Wedding quickly approaches, we take a look at the headpieces worn by Royals. It remains to be seen which tiara the soon-to-be Princess Katherine will be presented with from the Royal Family, as is tradition. For now, what could be better than fantasizing about adorning your very own head with hundreds of diamonds and precious jewels?
The Spencer Tiara
Worn as her something borrowed by Lady Diana Spencer on the day of her wedding to Prince Charles in 1981, the Spencer Tiara is made of gold and entirely covered in diamonds. Thought to be a Spencer family heirloom, the tiara has gone through many changes since its first recorded appearance in 1875, when a single element of the tiara was left to Lady Sarah Spencer. Since then, the tiara has been remounted and four other elements added to it, creating what we now know as the Spencer Tiara today.
The Cambridge Lover’s Knot Tiara
Crafted in 1914 from Queen Mary’s already-possessed pearls and diamonds, the Cambridge Lover’s Knot Tiara was a copy of her Princess August Hesse’s tiara, the Queen’s grandmother. Queen Mary left the tiara to her daughter, Queen Elizabeth II, who in turn bestowed the jewel to Princess Diana in 1981. Although Diana was meant to wear the tiara for her wedding to Prince Charles, she instead opted to wear the Spencer Tiara. Diana did, however, wear the tiara on multiple occasions until her divorce with Prince Charles whereupon the tiara was returned to the Royal Family.
The Poltimore Tiara
Created in the 1870s for Lady Poltimore, this tiara can be converted into a necklace and eleven brooches with the inclusion of a screwdriver and brooch fittings required to make the switch. Purchased for 5,500 pounds, the tiara was worn by Princess Margaret at her wedding to Antony Armstrong-Jones in 1960. The tiara was sold for $1,704,576 at Christie’s Auction House in 2006.
The Nizam of Hyderabad Tiara
It is known that the tiara was crafted by Cartier and bestowed upon Queen Elizabeth II on the occasion of her wedding in 1947. It has been suggested that the tiara has since been dismantled by the Queen, in order to create her own Burmese Ruby Tiara. Still, pieces of the tiara have been seen in the form of brooches worn by the Royal Family.
The Burmese Ruby Tiara
While it is believed that the Burmese Ruby Tiara was assembled using the diamonds from the Nizam of Hyderabad Tiara, it is positively known that the rubies were gifted to Queen Elizabeth II by the people of Burma for her coronation. Crafted by Garrad’s in 1973, the rubies are set to resemble the Rose of England. The 96 rubies in the crown symbolize the number of diseases the Burmese believe can effect the human body. The rubies are credited with warding off these diseases, as well as the presence of evil. Queen Elizabeth II has worn this tiara many times.
The Grand Duchess Vladimir Tiara
This tiara takes its name from the Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna Vladimir. The grand duchess escapedto Venice with her family during the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution of Russia, leaving her renowned jewelry behind in St. Petersburg. A British secret intellegence agent helped to retrieve the jewels from a Vladimir Palace vault, including the tiara. The tiara was purchased by Queen Mary in 1921.
Originally, the tiara was fashioned with hanging pearls positioned inside each circle. Queen Mary soon commissioned Garrard’s to re-cut 15 of her Cambridge emeralds to fit in place of the pearls. After Queen Mary’s death in 1953, the tiara was passed down to Queen Elizabeth II. Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, has also been seen wearing the emerald version of the crown.
“The Queen is the only person who can put on a tiara with one hand, while walking down stairs.”
-Princess Margaret
Cocktail rings today are an incredible fashion statement, with colors that pop and eye-catching sparkle. Their popularity is undeniable, worn by well-known celebrities and local fashionistas.
The cocktail ring is sure to stand out at any formal occasion, but also adds pizzazz to a simple jean-and-t-shirt look.
Cocktail rings got their name from the times of the prohibition, where women, dressed in their finest, wore them to signify that they were drinking illegally at parties. The rings developed into a status symbol during the 1920s, and has spanned through the 1940s and 50s. Celebrities have proven that the cocktail ring is here to stay, with the baubles frequently present on red carpet events and fashion runways.
About one-third of all diamonds have fluorescence, an visible wavelength emitted when excited by invisible radiation. Most diamonds with fluorescence emit a blue color, with the intensity ranging from faint to very strong. Some diamonds can emit a red, yellow, or even green fluorescence, but occur rarely.
The Hope Diamond, one of the most famous in the world, experiences a more rare form of fluorescence. The 45.52ct natural blue diamond fluoresces a bright red under ultraviolet light. The effect is quite eerie, especially if you believe the stories of the cursed blue diamond.
Some retailers will tell you that fluorescence is a negative, but some consumers actually prefer their diamonds with it! Most people aren’t aware of their diamonds possessing this feature, until of course, they see their hands under a night club’s black light. The truth is, fluorescence rarely effects and diamond’s brilliance, and in a lower-colored stone, fluorescence actually makes the diamond appear whiter.
So does fluorescence effect the value of a diamond? In the 1950s, diamonds with fluorescence were sold at a premium, and labeled “blue white diamonds.” In the 1970s, their value dropped along with their demand – this was attributed to the popularity of discos and the use of black lighting, where the diamond would show its fluorescence. Today, diamonds with a very strong fluorescence are typically priced slightly lower than their fluorescent-less counterpart of the same color and clarity grade. Very strong fluorescence may alter a stone with a very high grade negatively. Adversely, diamonds that appear to have a bit more yellow in color are positively effected by the fluorescence. In any case, most diamonds will look beautiful regardless of their fluorescence. Look for something that is pleasing to your eye – if you happen to notice fluorescence the next time you’re at a disco, enjoy!
A cabochon, from the French caboche (head), is a gemstone which has been shaped and polished as opposed to faceted. This method is best used on softer gemstones such as amber and turquoise, where scratches would show much more if the stone were faceted.
However, stones that have a higher rating on the Moh’s scale of hardness such as the sapphire are often seen in cabochon form. You may recall most commonly seeing a cabochon sapphire on the crown of a watch.
There are many other gemstones that can be found in cabochon form. Often, if a stone has a flaw that would be too apparent if faceted, it is cut en cabochon.
Old Hollywood star Marlene Dietrich, famous for wearing her own jewelry in movies, wore a cabochon emerald suite in the 1938 movie Desire. The jewels were exquisite!
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