but am definitely not over-enthused by the way Mary has increasingly taken to wearing it as a headband.
Great minds.
She wears it more in the kokoshnik fashion, or like you said, as a headband. I'm not terribly fond of that either and hope HRH, at some stage, starts wearing it as it should be
(imo) worn.
However, the altered earrings of late look fantastic when worn with the tiara and certainly flatter a lady of 36.
I like that she hasn't worn the necklace either. Although feminine, it's rather
expansive and hides her lovely neck and shoulder line
. I think the tiara, earrings, brooch and bracelet are a great balance.
And perhaps the necklace could be altered at some stage. Would be nice to see that in a dissimilar variation also. The detatched pendants could then serve as contrasting broochs'. And if worn
(underneath) with the parure brooch itself, could resemble a small stomacher which would be rather impressive.
I can't find many nice ruby jewels.
Yes, I'm not terribly fond of rubies either I must admit. Infact, they are probably me least favoured stone. Though given the design of the parure, I think rubies to have been the only choice.
It's the ivy leaves and their authenticity with shapes and size that capture me.