British Royal Jewels of the Past

[Warren]

It's known as the Surrey Tiara, and hasn't seen the light of day for a very long time. Another consigned to those extensive vaults?

[rebbevb]

It is now owned by The Earl and Countess Sussex. I think

[wymanda]

Originally Posted by rebbevb

It is now owned by The Earl and Countess Sussex. I think

How are they related to Queen Mary?

[Lady Marmalade]

She certainly loved jewels...that is just gorgeous. I love the pearl choker around her neck as well.

[frafel]

A few small diamonds around the neck of Queen Mary!

[frafel]

Here you can see Queen Mary with King George V, if you look closely you could see that she had the Koh-I-Noor diamond detached from the queen consort's crown and had it temporarily put back on its brooch setting (Queen Victoria often used it when she wanted to wear the Koh-I-Noor as a brooch) and Queen Mary here has the brooch pinned on her sash. Hanging from the Koh-I-Noor brooch is the Cullinan I diamond!

[frafel]

A bit of pearl action for you folks here!

[reynard]

Originally Posted by branchg

For the most part, the royal family has avoided selling anything that is closely connected to the Crown, but has certainly gotten rid of other pieces to pay death duties.

The Earl of Harewood sold off many of Princess Mary's sapphires, most of which were from Queen Mary, as did The Duke of Kent. Princess Alexandra sold some of her mother's diamonds in the 60's and even The Queen Mother sold off some of Queen Mary's jewels, notably an amethyst parure that Queen Mary received in a charity auction.

Queen Mary aquired this parure at an auction? Do you have any information about that?

from the auction photos

[Lady Meg]

Originally Posted by reynard

Queen Mary aquired this Amethyst parure at an auction? Do you have any information about that?

Actually I have found these photos... if these jewels were sold, where did these come from?
http://image.wetpaint.com/image/1/tM...1546/GW264H195
http://image.wetpaint.com/image/1/wd...0716/GW339H242
http://image.wetpaint.com/image/1/40...0458/GW319H172

[Warren]

Originally Posted by Lady Meg

Actually I have found these photos... if these jewels were sold, where did these come from?

Where did the photos come from? PHOTOSHOP and quite likely from our own 'Photoshopping Tiaras' thread.

[Lady Meg]

Originally Posted by Warren

Where did the photos come from? PHOTOSHOP and quite likely from our own 'Photoshopping Tiaras' thread.

How is this photoshopped??
http://cache3.asset-cache.net/xc/797...5BFDC843F9F02F

Ok, yes I see where I got it from... it was the forum on photoshopping. So where did the amethysts come from? What's the original?

http://image.wetpaint.com/image/1/Gj...3623/GW356H534

What of this pic?

[jcbcode99]

The first, http://cache3.asset-cache.net/xc/797...5BFDC843F9F02F, is not photoshopped. The Queen is wearing the Kent amethyst demi-parue, which also contains two additional brooches, bracelet (I think), and two hair combs.
The other picture, with tiara, of the set of amethysts that Queen Mary won at a raffle, does not look like the original to me. I may be wrong, but I cannot find an original picture at all (I've found many reworkings done in photoshop, though ).

[iowabelle]

Originally Posted by Lady Meg

http://image.wetpaint.com/image/1/Gj...3623/GW356H534

What of this pic?

I really wish we could see this tiara worn, it's lovely.

[branchg]

Queen Mary won the amethysts at a charity auction and had them set into the parure you see in the photo. Evidently, she only wore the parure once and then gave it to The Queen Mother as a gift.

The Queen Mother never wore the pieces and sold them.

[reynard]

What kind of charity event do royals go to:) ? There is a similar story about how some of the cambridge emeralds were aquired at a charity event. I've never seen a charity event that gives away precious jewels. I guess I just don't move in the right social circles . Where did you hear this story branchg?

[branchg]

It was common in the Gilded Age of the late 1800's and early 1900's for very rich or royal events to be staged for charity in which the guests were given tokens of jewels or unset stones as part of the occasion. It was a time of great displays of wealth.

Remember that in those days gems were not mined and controlled by huge cartels, so the value attributable to them was far less than they are today.

[Gita]

Those amethysts are maginicent! I think they are absoultely beautiful.

[qui mal y pense]

Does anyone have information or photos of the Empress's jewels bought by Queen Mary from the Empress's daughter Xenia? There seems to be a great deal of secrecy surrounding the purchases.

[Gaël LE BOLLOCQ]

Originally Posted by qui mal y pense

Does anyone have information or photos of the Empress's jewels bought by Queen Mary from the Empress's daughter Xenia? There seems to be a great deal of secrecy surrounding the purchases.

It seems to be difficult to make a list of those jewels. The conditions of the sale never were really transparent. Queen Mary wasn't very fare to her cousins...
Most publications show contradictions about this. (Field says the tiara given to the Duchess of Gloucester was bought from the Empress' daughters, Munn says it was made by Garrard ?)
Pieces bought during the public sale :
. The oval cabochon sapphire in a cluster of diamonds with a pearl drop brooch (often worn by Elizabeth II).
. The square cabochon sapphire in a cluster of diamond brooch (apparently, never worn by ERII).
. The pearl choker necklace with a square cabochon sapphire in a cluster of diamonds clasp (now worn by Anne, the Royal Princess).
Others ?

[stacy]

The subject of Queen Mary's loop tiara came up in another thread, here's a picture:

http://community.webshots.com/photo/...4637837gitGuC#

:)