Russian Imperial and Noble Jewels


If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
Here's a video which proves to be an entertaining way of passing 4 minutes.
It contains stills of Russian, Romanov and Romanov-provenance jewellery as well as the Fabergé Imperial eggs.
Many of the tiara pics are scans from Mr Munn's opus.
Thanks for the video Warren. Most of the tiaras were breathtaking. And to me don't look like they are heavy and would hurt your head. The blue gems in the necklace, earrings and tiara had such a beautiful blue color. I believe sapphires of real good quality.:);):)
 
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Warren, it's safe to say that anyone who would break up that tiara on a whim to make up little trinkets, definately had their taste all in their mouth.
 
:previous:
Yes, the wilful destruction of such a work of art should by rights be a criminal offence. Let that cultural nihilist Imelda Marcos stand accused.
 
I agree. The tiara that Imelda acquired was not only a Romanov treasure, but a historical treasure and she destroyed it. It almost makes me ill.:sad:
 
I would like to say perhaps she saved the tiara setting and reused the jewels. But from everything I've read about IM, she probably had it melted down and made into shoes.

it is almost funny, about the tiara being shoe buckles but i am horrified as well. i just started reading this thread and the tiara is indeed beautiful. When they ruled the country, Imelda fancied herself as being royal too so maybe thats why she broke up the tiara. quite a sacrilege to a royal treasure
 
The Yussoupovs were rich beyond belief and Felix's mother used to keep bowls filled with jewels so her guests could scoop them up and let them run between their fingers for the pure sensuality of doing it. I believed they owned several pieces of jewelry, as well as clothing, which were once owned by Marie Antoinette.
 
Yes Vasillisos, the Marie Antoinette diamond earrings of 35 carats each now reside in the Smithsonian institute in Washington DC. Princess Zenaide also owned MA's rock crystal chandelier, I think at the Moika Palace in St Petersburg. Hope it survived WWII. Have you read Prince Felix's account of his life on line at Alexander Palace web site the book is called "LOST SPLENDOUR" an hilarious work published in 1932.
 
I wouldn't call it hilarious, though we all know Felix was quite the swisher, he did tell a good tale.
 
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In reply to Russophile, I'm sorry it must be my weird sense of humour, as I found so much of it hilarious. He certainly did spin a good yarn. Or at least the translator did a good job on his book. I have found that all the Grand Dukes and Grand Duchesses very interesting people. I only wish that Cartier would publish a book of the photos taken of Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna's jewels which he photographed in 1920. She is another character I find very interesting.
 
The younger or older?
And wouldn't it be something if Cartier did??
Felix was interesting, I read somewhere towards the end of his life he liked to wear rouge and prance around. I enjoyed the book, though, knowing your peasants picked dirt up off your land to grease their wheels due to all the oil in the dirt was interesting, not to mention the bowls full of jewels they kept about the house.
 
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Tarlita,

Thank you for the information. I have the Alexander Palace web site bookmarked, so I will certainly check out the information on Felix. He was certainly a character. It must have been a surreal experience to be that wealthy and privileged back then.
 
:D"bowls of jewels" I love it!!
 
Sorry for not replying sooner I've been away. It's easier to refer to her as Gr Dss Vladimir to save confusion on Senior or junior. When she died in 1920, her jewels went to Cartier for cleaning I think. At any rate her eldest son Kyril inherited the pearls, Boris (her favourite) the emeralds, and Andrei the rubies. Her only daughter Ellen received her diamonds. The most famous piece being the Vladimir circle tiara with pearl drops, which Queen Mary bought and now is a favourite of QEII. Cartier made three copies of this tiara and Prince Christopher of Greece's wife - Nancy owned one. It is not an exact copy.
The emerald necklace was cut down and Barbara Hutton bought it from Cartier and there is a photo of her wearing it as a tiara. Some forums say that Elizabeth Taylor now owns that necklace. She certainly owns an emerald necklace, but whether it is Gr Dss Vladimir's or not I can not say for sure. But Elizabeth Taylor does own the very famous La Peregrina pearl with a history dating back to 1660. Felix made sure he got this pearl plus the La Regent pearl out during the revolution. Alexander Palace have photo's of the sale documents from Felix to Cartier for the La Peregrina.
Richard Burton paid $37,000 for the pearl and had it set in a lovely necklace which cost $100,000. I believe that today this pearl on its own will fetch $1 million because of its rare quality and history.
 
:D"bowls of jewels" I love it!!
From Youssopov Treasure the wording is; Zinaida (Youssopov) was admired in society for her taste and elegance. The atmosphere of her apartments had more than a tinge of old Muscovy; bowls filled with enormous jewels for the simple pleasure of running one's fingers through added to the palatable sensuality of Zinaide's rooms.
Zinaide was the mother of Felix who inherited a fortune worth more than the imperial family itself.
 
To Marsel, I just want to say that I would like to see all the important pieces of Romanov jewels returned to the Kremlin Armoury so everyone can see them. I agree that probably the Oligarchs will out bid other collectors; but that may not be such a bad thing if the jewels are then returned to the Armoury. As Victor Vekselberg, the chairman of Tyumen Oil did with the Forbes Faberge eggs he bought in 2004.
No doubt Imperial Russia amassed quite a collection of fabulous works of jewels and trinkets since Catherine the Great. It is a great shame that many of these pieces have been dispersed all over the world. When you visit the UK some of their heritage is in the ''Tower" and in Dresden you have the Green Vault. So it would be only appropriate that Russia has part of their heritage on display in the Armoury.
 
Who did he buy those Fabergé eggs from Tarlita? I know Forbes had a collection.
 
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Ahhhh! So rumour in the canals is that this glorious drool-inducing stunner of a tiara is still intact! Someone on the RJWMB has said that the collection of Ms. Imelda Marcos's to be auctioned soon was previewed a few months back and included this tiara in its full glory! Ooooooo I do wonder where it will end up now. A royal house needs to snap it up!
 
Faberge eggs

Malcolm Forbes started his Faberge collection in the 1950s and ended up with 12 eggs. He had the first surprise Hen egg - my favourite- which Tsar Alexander III -Sasha had made for his wife Dagmar (Maria Feodorovna) in 1885. Inside was a ring but Sasha wrote saying he wanted it changed to a pendant.
The Hen egg worth about $120 in 1920 and by 2004 was valued between $3-4 million. Forbes also owned the coronation egg - gold with a gold carriage inside valued between $18 -24 million in 2004. The other eggs were
the orange tree egg,
the 15th anniversary egg,
Lily of the valley egg,
the cockeral blue egg,
the resurrection egg,
the rennaisance egg,
the three leaf clover egg
and another blue egg with a clock.
That's ten not sure what the other two are called.
Malcolm Forbe's sons decided to auction the eggs, but energy tycoon Victor Vekselberg did a deal and paid close to the valuation price of between $80-$120 million.:ohmy: and bought nine of the eggs and returned them to the Kremlin Armoury. At the time the Kremlin had 10 eggs, five are in the Virginia Musuem of fine arts, Queen Elisabeth owns three, Prince Rainier of Monaco owns one. It is the blue serpent egg. The whereabouts of 8 eggs are unknown. Others are in private hands in the US and Switzerland. These are known as the Imperial Surprise eggs and only 51 were made and are unsigned as they were commissioned pieces. Faberge would take up to a year to make an exquisite piece and each one held a surprise. Dagmar's brother King George I of Greece had a Faberge egg, not an Imperial egg, which went to auction a few years ago. It was valued at $50,000 but I don't know what it went for.
So with 8 missing since 1918, one has to keep a sharp eye out at the carboot & garage sales. Just in case.
 
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So with 8 missing since 1918, one has to keep a sharp eye out at the carboot & garage sales. Just in case.
Indeed! :D

Russo held an egg, not an Imperial egg, once in Vegas. Very cool. Seems Faberge has the enameling process back. Also she saw a Faberge exhibit at the Portland Art Museum where the red cross egg was displayed. Magnificent!
 
Well I think that is pretty WOW! To actualy hold an egg - any egg of Faberge's would put shivers up my spine. This company undeniably did the most beautiful work. I've seen close up pics of some and they are exquisite pieces. They are works of art really. Lucky girl Russo.:)

One of the Faberge web sites shows the letter between Sasha and his brother Vladimir who was sort of overseeing the work on the Hen egg. Sadly someone wrote that Vladimir was Sasha's uncle. But he was definately his brother married to Meichen the Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna senior.
 
If your information is correct Prince Johnny, then it would be wonderful to find this tiara in tact. Much has been said about this tiara on many forum pages. If it does come up for auction then I'm sure the Oligachs will bid furiously on this piece of history merely to return it to Russsia and to own a piece of Imperial history. Hope you are right and that the pearl tiara is in pristine condition.:flowers:

Just had a look at Christies site.
Dated 28 May 2010 President Arroyo yesterday ordered a hold on the auction of sequested jewelry of Imelda Marcos, saying it is best left to the next administration. The jewelry comprised of the Roumeliotes, Malacamang and Hawaii collections kept at the Bangko Sentral Pilipinas vault for more than 20 yrs.
No mention of the Russian tiara.:)
So I guess we have to wait.
 
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Imelda's jewels

There are a few news videos available which show some of the Imelda collection(s).
The main video in this link is probably the best - there are a surprising number of tiaras on display and there is something sort of similar to the Fabergé.
From the same link the 3 top videos on the right also show some of the jewels, including tiaras.

Here's a different image of what may or may not be lost forever:

the missing Fabergé tiara

Click on the + magnifier under the pic for full size. They don't make them like they used to.

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Anything come of that auction Warren? One would think Elizabeth Taylor would be on that like white on rice!
 
Alas. I do not think that Liz has any place to wear such beauties anymore...
I am just Drooling over the missing Faberge tiara!!! Could it still turn up somewhere?
 
Forget Liz Taylor, it would look super yum on Liz II! Though I don't think the British are really after any more tiaras :( Norway could do with a new one.....
 
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