Russian Imperial and Noble Jewels


If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
A.C.C. said:
Actually, The Duke and Duchess of Westminster only own 1 Russian tiara and probably a few other pieces. As was said, most of the Romanov jewels now belong to the British Royal Family. Queen Elizabeth II has tons of Russian jewels, due to the purchase of them by Queen Mary, Princess Anne has a few necklaces and chokers from the Romanovs. I also beleive the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester have some pieces.

The Westminster ducal family has a substantial collection of Russian jewels, although not necessarily Romanov jewels. Most of the Romanov jewels remained in Russia, although some were sold after the Revolution by Lenin to raise hard currency. The Dowager Empress Marie had the most substantial collection of all the imperial exiles, followed by Grand Duchess Marie Pavlovna, grandmother to Grand Duchess Helen, the mother of Princess Marina, Duchess of Kent.

While it's true Queen Mary acquired a number of pieces from both the Dowager Empress and Grand Duchess Marie, the majority of their jewels were auctioned off and ended up in the hands of wealthy Americans, including Barbara Hutton, Doris Duke and the Vanderbilts. Some of these pieces were broken up in subsequent sales (the stones are worth far more than the design) and reset by Cartier and Harry Winston for superwealthy clients.
 
Oops! Grand Duchess Marie is the MOTHER of Grand Duchess Helen and GRANDMOTHER to Princess Marina, Duchess of Kent.
 
A model displays a diamond necklace from the collection of the Russian imperial family believed to have been made for Catherine the Great, Empress of Russia 1762-1796, at Sotheby's in Geneva, Switzerland November 9, 2005. The ornament is expected to fetch between $ 1,150,000 and 1,950,000 when auctioned off in Geneva on November 17. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse
 

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:rolleyes: What I would give to not only SEE one of these historical pieces, but to actually be able to try it on!!!! WOW!!!
It may sound silly, but one of the main reasons I'm so interested in Royals is because of the history behind things like the jewels & the castles. I find it so amazing on how they were made, who they were made for, how long they have been able to survive things like the wars. It's all just amazing to me. :rolleyes:
 
Are there any pics out there of the Russian RF wearing thier jewels?It would be lovely to see.
 
What a thread! The Russian royals truly possessed the most beautifully designed jewelry, my gosh! My faves are the very first tiara; so delicate, so simple, so gorgeous!

And the just-auctioned necklace formerly belonging to Catherine the Great!
 
The Russian Nuptial Crown worn by Iperial brides was purchased by Marjorie Merriweather post and is on display at the Hilwood House Museum in Washington, DC.
 
reynard said:

Does anyone know the stones on the neclace? they seem huge (I am reffering to post #3 on this thread, a pic of Empress Marie Feodrovna)
 
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Those stones in the necklace are actually large diamonds, in the book "Queens Jewels" on the russian section they show a large picture of it and it is or was part of the Russian state diamond fund, with the largest diamond weighing 32 carats.
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The Romanov jewels are truly out of this world, some of the omst grand jewels I have ever seen. A marvellous collection.

The Romanov's certainly had one of the worlds grandest and marvellous collections in the world.
 
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reynard said:
Some folks were asking to see Russian jewels, so post any pics you have. Here is a tiara made by Faberge and is now owned by the Duke of Westminster, I think

Definitely one of the loveliest pieces of jewelry I've ever seen.
 
Ok so here are some pictures! I hope these haven't been posted before but if they have then I'm really Sorry!

1. Romanov nuptual mantle clasp

2. A gold kolchan (quiver) of Tsar Mikhail Romanov circa 1627-28, from Moscow and the diamond crown of Tsar Ivan Alexelvich, circa 1680's also from Moscow, is on display Oct. 17, 2000 at Chicago's Field Museum of Natural History. (GettyImages)

3. Romanov nuptial diadem

4. Romanov wedding crown

5. The Crown Jewels of the Russian Empire, ca. 1927

6. diamond & pear-shaped pearl kokoshnik

7. diamond & pear-shaped pearl diadem

8. diadem

9. diadem

10. Russian turqouise and diamonds
(source for 1, 3-10: liljones, coryright has expired for 5-10)
 
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And some more

1. Russian Sapphire and diamonds (source liljones)
2. Russian Field Tiars made from Diamonds and Gold.
3. Crown and Orb from Tsar Micheal Romanov late 16th century.
4.
5. Military Decoration with a potrait of Peter The Great.
6.
7. The Great Imperial Crown (source)

(source for 2-6 bestofrussia.ca)
 
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What is the crown in #4?[/quote]
 
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reynard said:
What is the crown in #4?
To be perfectly honest, I don't really know!:( But I did find those pictures (2 - 6) on a website called Best of Russia it has a lot of great info and stuff but they don't mention the name! All it really says is that it was made for the coronation of Peter the Great or Catherine the great. Anyways, sorry if that didn't help much! :eek:
 
Quite impressive all these jewels indeed, does anyone know if these can be viewed? and if yes where?
 
Warren said:
The Family of Hesse.

How do we know the tiara is now in the british Royal Collection ? I mean is that certain ?
If it is so, does the rest of the Hesse's parure (necklace, bracelets ?) also belongs to the collection ?
 
Gaël LE BOLLOCQ said:
How do we know the tiara is now in the british Royal Collection ? I mean is that certain ?
If it is so, does the rest of the Hesse's parure (necklace, bracelets ?) also belongs to the collection ?
I think it unlikely the Hesse aquamarine tiara was acquired by the Windsors. A much earlier post in this thread said the tiara was auctioned. Nothing more.
 
The aquamarine tiara belonged to Empress Alexandra's sister Ella who was married to Nicholas's uncle Sergei. It was auctioned a few years ago and I doubt the Windsors would buy it. They have enough jewels that they don't wear.
 
Warren said:
The Family of Hesse.

I don't think I ever said that this tiara was in the Windsor collection now. If I did, I apologize for the error. Warren is quite correct about its provenance.
 
From Christie's web site:

A SUPERB AND HIGHLY IMPORTANT HISTORIC DIAMOND BRACELET FROM THE COLLECTION OF THE RUSSIAN IMPERIAL FAMILY
The semi-flexible bracelet designed as an oval-shaped old-cut diamond to the six-looped ribbon-bow top and foliate old-cut diamond tapered sides, mounted in gold and silver, circa 1780, 15.5 cm long, in fitted blue velvet S.J. Phillips case


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