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QA of UK and Possible Sapphires
Posted by Dave on February 13, 2019, 11:58 pm
If one looks at HM's attire for her 1902 Coronation, one would see down the middle of her dress at least 4 bows accompanied by at least 3/4 colored stones of which I sense to be sapphires. Could one of these stones be the one gifted by QEQM to Diana PoW as the famous choker sapphire that was originally a brooch? And or could these stones have been the ones either given by George VI to make up the necklace given to his daughter now QE11 or maybe from George V to make up the Kent parure sapphire set? Please see picture below.
Im not sure if they're all sapphires. Maybe the Queen mixed her gems for her coronation. The bow brooches at the bottom.of the pic has Queen Victoria's emerald fringe earring as a pendant.
Not entirely sure about the bow brooch above the fringe at her waist. When it was sold among Pss Margaret's things it had a turquoise center. My guess is it has an emerald and the drops are Queen Alexandra's emerald earrings now worn by Duchess of Cornwall.
I agree with OmerH: that the dark coloured stones on Queen Alexandra's coronation gown are most likely to be emeralds.
Except for Queen Victoria's emerald earrings, all the other stones appear to be cabochons, and none of them are large enough to be the sapphire given to Princess Diana.
Re QEII's sapphire parure
I read somewhere (I think perhaps Leslie Field) that King George VI purchased the suite from Garrard for QEII's wedding gift, and crucially these are faceted stones.
Re the Kent sapphire parure.
This was bequeathed to Queen Mary by her aunt, the Grand Duchess of Mecklenburg Strelitz, a sister of Princess Mary Adelaide, Duchess of Teck, Queen Mary's mother.
The parure had originally belonged to their mother, Augusta of Hesse Kassel, Duchess of Cambridge. It was given to Augusta of Mecklenburg Strelitz.
Princess Augusta, Grand Duchess of Mecklenburg Strelitz wearing the tiara.
I think I read as well it was bought from Garrard's. I'm sure I also read that George VI was considered a real expert on sapphires. As I also believe the Queen Alexandra didn't leave a will her jewels got divided up by her children. She had a vast collection so that could have been quite a haul. However I suspect that was her personal collection as opposed to anything given to her as queen as gifts. So things like those brooches may have been we'll have one and sets got diluted down.
Just my thoughts.
Marc
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I agree with OmerH: that the dark coloured stones on Queen Alexandra's coronation gown are most likely to be emeralds.
Except for Queen Victoria's emerald earrings, all the other stones appear to be cabochons, and none of them are large enough to be the sapphire given to Princess Diana.
Re QEII's sapphire parure
I read somewhere (I think perhaps Leslie Field) that King George VI purchased the suite from Garrard for QEII's wedding gift, and crucially these are faceted stones.
Re the Kent sapphire parure.
This was bequeathed to Queen Mary by her aunt, the Grand Duchess of Mecklenburg Strelitz, a sister of Princess Mary Adelaide, Duchess of Teck, Queen Mary's mother.
The parure had originally belonged to their mother, Augusta of Hesse Kassel, Duchess of Cambridge. It was given to Augusta of Mecklenburg Strelitz.
Princess Augusta, Grand Duchess of Mecklenburg Strelitz wearing the tiara.
Thanks OmerH for clarifying the stones and to Beth for the history lesson on the provenance of the sapphires. I did not now either and it goes to show no question is really a silly question.
Regards,
Dave.
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Im not sure if they're all sapphires. Maybe the Queen mixed her gems for her coronation. The bow brooches at the bottom.of the pic has Queen Victoria's emerald fringe earring as a pendant.
Not entirely sure about the bow brooch above the fringe at her waist. When it was sold among Pss Margaret's things it had a turquoise center. My guess is it has an emerald and the drops are Queen Alexandra's emerald earrings now worn by Duchess of Cornwall.
It is only when people ask questions that we get new insights or, even better, reconsider what we think. On this occasion it made me hunt for a sharper image of Queen Alexandra in her coronation gown.
By the way, she does seem to have worn a sapphire: the Albert sapphire brooch seems to be peeking out from behind her pearls on her right shoulder near the neckline of her gown.
Queen Alexandra received a necklace with cabochon sapphires, that could be removed and were even worn in a Tiara, from her brother-in-law, the Tsar, as a gift for her Silver Wedding in 1888! They ended up with Lady Maud Duff-Carnegie, Countess of Southesk, and were auctioned in 1946!
Many thanks for the link The Royal Watcher. Some where on one of her other pages (but not on the link you provided) Ursula has acknowledged that the insight about the connection between the sapphire necklace elements and Queen Alexandra's tiara (as worn to the Fife wedding) came from my research.
Although I knew that the tiaras worn by Queen Alexandra and her grand-daughter, the Countess of Southesk, were not the same, it was re-reading Ursula's information -- that the elements of the necklace were detachable -- which provided me with the insight - so again - thank you Ursula and Laura!
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Queen Alexandra received a necklace with cabochon sapphires, that could be removed and were even worn in a Tiara, from her brother-in-law, the Tsar, as a gift for her Silver Wedding in 1888! They ended up with Lady Maud Duff-Carnegie, Countess of Southesk, and were auctioned in 1946!
Posted by The Royal Watcher on February 15, 2019, 4:53 am, in reply to "Re: Romanov Sapphires"
Apologies for not crediting you Beth! I knew that I had seen the information about the Sapphires on RJWMB, but I couldn't find the original thread, and the only info I found was the link to Ursula's website!
Your research is amazing, and this makes me more curious about the Countess of Southesk's jewels that were auctioned, which I know included the Amethyst Tiara and Necklace, the Sapphire Necklace, and a Turquoise Tiara!
I really need to establish my own site to feature my ideas based on my research.
I even saw one item repeated in Hello magazine. No doubt there will be a great deal more as I am only too well aware that several bloggers have taken credit for my work.
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Apologies for not crediting you Beth! I knew that I had seen the information about the Sapphires on RJWMB, but I couldn't find the original thread, and the only info I found was the link to Ursula's website!
Your research is amazing, and this makes me more curious about the Countess of Southesk's jewels that were auctioned, which I know included the Amethyst Tiara and Necklace, the Sapphire Necklace, and a Turquoise Tiara!
on February 13, 2019, 11:58 pm
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