Yesterday, after I posted, I found some new information but was unable to post because I lost electricity. I am going to be without electricity for part of today -- so my responses may be slow. It all depends on how long I am without electricity.
The new information.
I found a description of Lady Mary Crichton-Stuart at a Court Ball in 1931. The report noted that Lady Mary was wearing an aquamarine tiara.
Western Mail 17 July 1931.
This was prior to her wedding in 1933.
I could not find any references to her mother, the Marchioness of Bute, wearing aquamarines.
I wonder if the aquamarine tiara, said to have belonged to Empress Alexandra, was purchased by the Butes?
Two things have influenced my thinking on this.
First, when I found the reference to Lady Mary wearing a tiara, I realised that what I thought were the aquamarines in the tiara in the 1938 photo (the grey sections) may have in fact been the spaces.
Secondly Juscha, who has a better eye than mine, identified my mistake and recognised that the tiara worn by Lady Mary in 1938 was the one associated with the Empress. https://mb.boardhost.com/historyroyaljewels/msg/1582799074.html
Thank you Juscha!
In my opinion it is possible that the Butes purchased the tiara from Wartski.
We know from press reports that it was purchased by Wartski in Paris from accredited Soviet agents in 1927. Subsequently, it was for sale by the firm.
Illustrated London News 3 December 1927.
Detail of the tiara
In Tiaras. A history of splendour Geoffrey Munn does not give a date for when the firm sold the tiara or to whom it was initially sold.
I know that some will argue that the press made a mistake in reporting that Lady Mary wore a tiara to a Court Ball in 1931, as many believe the notion that unmarried women did not wear tiaras. But there is a wealth of information proving this is just a popular belief which has no relation to reality.
In 1931 Lady Mary Crichton-Stuart, who was born in May 1906, was 25 years old.
She didn't marry until 8 May 1933 when she was 27 years old.
As a mature woman it is highly likely that she would have worn a tiara to grand functions where other ladies wore tiaras, so I see no reason to discount the 1931 report.
I suspect that the tiara, said to have belonged to Empress Alexandra, was the one worn by Lady Mary and that, to form a parure, her parents purchased a necklace, bracelet and earrings as a wedding gift.
The complete parure worn in 1938
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