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Engagement jewels of Nicholas II & Alexandra Posted by kat max on May 3, 2019, 9:24 pm I have been taking a look at the jewels accumulated by Tsarina Alexandra Feodorovna of Russia during her engagment period. Information on these jewels is scattered all over the place and I've yet to find a single easily laid out list of what she got. However, I have pieced together the following: On the 16th April at Easter following the engagement Alexandra received a stunning engagement present - a parure of diamonds and sapphires from her future father-in-law, Tsar Alexander III, made by the jeweller Koechli. (It is my assumption here that this is the set she received first based on the description below and the fact it is a known engagement gift.) Nicholas had been asked to find out Alexandra's favourite stone and she replied "sapphires". Alexandra wrote to her future mother-in-law, Empress Marie Feodorovna: ‘How can I thank you and dear Uncle enough for the magnificent present you were so awfully kind as to send me. It is much too beautiful for me! It gave me quite a shock when I opened up the case – saw those beautiful stones." Nicholas and Alexandra parted ways after this. Nicholas went back to Russia and Alexandra went to Windsor to visit her grandmother Queen Victoria. Nicholas took the family boat the Polar Star and joined Alexandra at Windsor from June 8-12, 1894 While he was there it looks like she got the following jewels: • A chain bracelet with a large emerald • A brooch with pearl drops • small diamond and pearl crown by Boucheron (FF27,500) • A jewelled fan with the imperial coat of arms by Lalique • sapphire and diamond brooch (This was a gift from Alexander III to his future daughter-in-law) • A five row necklace of large pink pearls created by Faberge (250,000 Gold roubles) and was the single most expensive item purchased by the Imperial house from the jeweller. The last thing he gave her before he left was a pink pearl ring as her engagement ring. Oddly enough there don't seem to be any easy to recognise photos of this piece. After Alexandra arrived in Russia, but before her wedding Nicholas gave her the following items: • Siberian aquamarine and diamond brooch with a zig zag design around the edge by Faberge purchased on 10th August 1894 (1,100 roubles) • A magnificent pearl necklace, with a diamond set clasp purchased on 10th August 1894 from Faberge (177,600 roubles) If anyone can provide any other information about the gifts Alexandra was given during this period of time I would appreciate it. It is especially hard to seperate out the information on the pearl necklaces and brooches. Alexandra apparently kept all her jewels in her bedroom in special storage. Although she didn't love jewellery like her mother-in-law Marie but she did see it as a hedge against disaster and encouraged people to give her jewels as gifts - especially sentimental pieces which she frequently wore.

Re: Engagement jewels of Nicholas II & Alexandra no Koechli Parure ! Posted by Ursula on May 3, 2019, 11:25 pm, in reply to "Engagement jewels of Nicholas II & Alexandra" (It is my assumption here that this is the set she received first based on the description below and the fact it is a known engagement gift.) That is wrong. On the 16th April at Easter following the engagement Alexandra received a stunning engagement present,a sapphire brooch, but no Parure!

Re: Engagement jewels of Nicholas II & Alexandra no Koechli Parure ! Posted by kat max on May 4, 2019, 6:52 am, in reply to "Re: Engagement jewels of Nicholas II & Alexandra no Koechli Parure !" Previous Message (It is my assumption here that this is the set she received first based on the description below and the fact it is a known engagement gift.) That is wrong. On the 16th April at Easter following the engagement Alexandra received a stunning engagement present,a sapphire brooch, but no Parure! Do you know which brooch it was? There's a lot of conflicting information and the letters in 'lifelong passion' do not provide any real details on what was received. I can find partial lists in other books but have found nothing that looks complete so far.

Re: Engagement jewels of Nicholas II & Alexandra no Koechli Parure ! Posted by Beth on May 4, 2019, 9:21 am, in reply to "Re: Engagement jewels of Nicholas II & Alexandra no Koechli Parure !" According to Stefano Papi the parure was made in 1894 but he does not give any further information, so it is possible that it was meant to be an engagement gift even if it was not presented on the actual day. Kat Max, do you know anything more about the pink pearls? I wonder if they could have been conch pearls?

Re: Engagement jewels of Nicholas II & Alexandra no Koechli Parure ! Posted by kat max on May 4, 2019, 9:28 am, in reply to "Re: Engagement jewels of Nicholas II & Alexandra no Koechli Parure !" Previous Message According to Stefano Papi the parure was made in 1894 but he does not give any further information, so it is possible that it was meant to be an engagement gift even if it was not presented on the actual day. Kat Max, do you know anything more about the pink pearls? I wonder if they could have been conch pearls? I have Pappi's book on the Romanov jewels but it hasn't been terribly useful for pinning down a lot of specifics. One of the pearl necklaces *might* be in the photo of Alexandra in my first post but I can't be certain of this. There is speculation online that Alexandra's ring is a conch pearl but no proof that I can see. This is why I said there's confusion about the pearl necklaces. I read one description saying the Windsor necklace had 5 rows (based on Buxhoveden's memoirs I think) but nobody else mentions this. Many of the stories seem slightly off. Not unexpected when they are being told many years after the event. What I wrote in my first post is what I've pieced together from various books and on-line sources. I'm principally trying to put together the history of the fan but decided I should also look at the bigger picture in this case. Its a real pity that Queen Victoria's digitised diaries are only available as paid academic resource and not open to individual researchers.

Re: Engagement jewels of Nicholas II & Alexandra |the sapphire brooch Posted by Ursula on May 4, 2019, 5:16 pm, in reply to "Re: Engagement jewels of Nicholas II & Alexandra no Koechli Parure !" The engagement gift, with details and notes from Queen Victoria dairies: https://royal-magazin.de/russia/alexandra-Feodorovna-sapphire-bow-brooch.htm

Re: Engagement jewels of Nicholas II & Alexandra |the sapphire brooch Posted by kat max on May 4, 2019, 5:45 pm, in reply to "Re: Engagement jewels of Nicholas II & Alexandra |the sapphire brooch" Previous Message The engagement gift, with details and notes from Queen Victoria dairies: https://royal-magazin.de/russia/alexandra-Feodorovna-sapphire-bow-brooch.htm Thank you for clarifying this. I think we are talking about different jewels. 1. Initial gift given to Alexandra on 16th April 1894 in Coburg from Alexander III (has stones in it but not sure about anything else yet). Massie describes this as an emerald bracelet but doesn't give the source, but Alexandra was asked to supply the name of her favourite stones - sapphires - before this gift was given. 2. Gifts received in Windsor from Nicholas and Alexander III. This includes your sapphire brooch and you supply excellent information on it here. 2. Gifts received in Russia prior to wedding. Principally appears to be Faberge at the moment.

Re: Engagement jewels of Nicholas II & Alexandra|the sapphire brooch Posted by Ursula on May 6, 2019, 9:21 pm, in reply to "Re: Engagement jewels of Nicholas II & Alexandra |the sapphire brooch" There are all details of the orders, in the State Archive in Moskau and St Petersburg. All invoice and bills, which was ordered by Koechli and Faberge, Ghan, Bolin, and others for the cabinet or the family - of course in russian and not online. There are 2 books, I have it,about the Faberge orders - of course in russian language from the state archive which was written, before 2 years. There is no Koechli order or bill in 1894 for that date, no delievery, no invoice no payment. Because the parure was ordered for the wedding, which was planned for summer 1895 and it was delivered in 1895. They had also no ready parure in the cabinet which fit the future Tsarina. The Tsar died and on the day of the birthday of Nikolaus's mother Maria Feodorovna - Empress Consort of Russia, the mourning has been cancelled for this day. Nikolaus and Alexandra married...on this day 1984 10 month earlier. The wedding gift was not ready on this time. When Alexandra was asked what's her favorite gem, she answer always Aquamarine. Her daughters wrote this also, as well as her court. When Nikolaus met her in Windsor, she was shamed (noted in the dairies), because, she had no tiara for the coming events, he bought her the Boucheron Capricorn Tiara with pearls and diamonds. That was the reason. The appointment of Ms. Boucheron is noted for the 17.July 1894, payed on 25.July 1884, the invoice about EPounds 1100,- is in the archive and the Boucheron Archive, V.Mylan noted it in the Boucheron book. When she owned the sapphire tiara in this time,she would mentioned it - exact in detail, in her dairy - and wore it! And the british press would report it, proudly. Probably you could ask for a research in the archive, it cost about $200-400 and the each copy ca $60 in russian and after that a translation, I don't know how much. Who is Massie? Previous Message Previous Message The engagement gift, with details and notes from Queen Victoria dairies: https://royal-magazin.de/russia/alexandra-Feodorovna-sapphire-bow-brooch.htm Thank you for clarifying this. I think we are talking about different jewels.

Re: Engagement jewels of Nicholas II & Alexandra|the sapphire brooch Posted by kat max on May 6, 2019, 9:28 pm, in reply to "Re: Engagement jewels of Nicholas II & Alexandra|the sapphire brooch" Previous Message There are all details of the orders, in the State Archive in Moskau and St Petersburg. What wonderful information Ursula. That clarifies this and certainly takes the sapphire tiara out of the running. I was dubious about all the photos floating around on the internet saying these were engagement gifts which is why I was trying to find some more firm information on the subject. I knew there had to be something written on this somewhere. So much good information only in Russian alas. Massie = Robert K. Massie who wrote the famous biography of Nicholas and Alexandra. He's usually reasonably reliable.

Re: Engagement jewels of Nicholas II & Alexandra|the sapphire brooch Posted by Ursula on May 6, 2019, 11:47 pm, in reply to "Re: Engagement jewels of Nicholas II & Alexandra|the sapphire brooch" my pleasure....you're welcome Previous Message Previous Message There are all details of the orders, in the State Archive in Moskau and St Petersburg. What wonderful information Ursula. That clarifies this and certainly takes the sapphire tiara out of the running. I was dubious about all the photos floating around on the internet saying these were engagement gifts which is why I was trying to find some more firm information on the subject. I knew there had to be something written on this somewhere. So much good information only in Russian alas.

Re: Engagement jewels of Nicholas II & Alexandra Posted by Dave on May 5, 2019, 10:23 am, in reply to "Engagement jewels of Nicholas II & Alexandra" Extremely well researched and put forward. I admire topics such as this because it carries so much content and at times we on here do make the most profound discoveries. I wonder how many gemmologists and or jewel houses/ families who have historic jewel collections follow our detailed and research based discussions. Regards, Dave. Previous Message I have been taking a look at the jewels accumulated by Tsarina Alexandra Feodorovna of Russia during her engagment period. Information on these jewels is scattered all over the place and I've yet to find a single easily laid out list of what she got. However, I have pieced together the following: On the 16th April at Easter following the engagement Alexandra received a stunning engagement present - a parure of diamonds and sapphires from her future father-in-law, Tsar Alexander III, made by the jeweller Koechli. (It is my assumption here that this is the set she received first based on the description below and the fact it is a known engagement gift.) Nicholas had been asked to find out Alexandra's favourite stone and she replied "sapphires". Alexandra wrote to her future mother-in-law, Empress Marie Feodorovna: ‘How can I thank you and dear Uncle enough for the magnificent present you were so awfully kind as to send me. It is much too beautiful for me! It gave me quite a shock when I opened up the case – saw those beautiful stones." Nicholas and Alexandra parted ways after this. Nicholas went back to Russia and Alexandra went to Windsor to visit her grandmother Queen Victoria. Nicholas took the family boat the Polar Star and joined Alexandra at Windsor from June 8-12, 1894 While he was there it looks like she got the following jewels: • A chain bracelet with a large emerald • A brooch with pearl drops • small diamond and pearl crown by Boucheron (FF27,500) • A jewelled fan with the imperial coat of arms by Lalique • sapphire and diamond brooch (This was a gift from Alexander III to his future daughter-in-law) • A five row necklace of large pink pearls created by Faberge (250,000 Gold roubles) and was the single most expensive item purchased by the Imperial house from the jeweller. The last thing he gave her before he left was a pink pearl ring as her engagement ring. Oddly enough there don't seem to be any easy to recognise photos of this piece. After Alexandra arrived in Russia, but before her wedding Nicholas gave her the following items: • Siberian aquamarine and diamond brooch with a zig zag design around the edge by Faberge purchased on 10th August 1894 (1,100 roubles) • A magnificent pearl necklace, with a diamond set clasp purchased on 10th August 1894 from Faberge (177,600 roubles) If anyone can provide any other information about the gifts Alexandra was given during this period of time I would appreciate it. It is especially hard to seperate out the information on the pearl necklaces and brooches. Alexandra apparently kept all her jewels in her bedroom in special storage. Although she didn't love jewellery like her mother-in-law Marie but she did see it as a hedge against disaster and encouraged people to give her jewels as gifts - especially sentimental pieces which she frequently wore.

Re: Engagement jewels of Nicholas II & Alexandra Posted by kat max on May 5, 2019, 11:53 am, in reply to "Re: Engagement jewels of Nicholas II & Alexandra" this is still a work in progess with plenty of room for mistakes at this point. However looking at this item again I'm less certain it was presented to Alexandra at Coburg. It is floating around the internet as an engagement present, but the original source of that statement,I don't know. When you look at Fersman's 1925 sale catalogue of the crown jewels this set is no. 140. He says that it has large well matched sapphires from Burma or Siam that were matched by the jeweller Koechli. That this was made c1900 for Alexandra Feodorovna but there is no makers mark or date on any of the pieces. If was made at this later date then it can not be an engagement gift. The set consisted of a necklace, diadem, brooch and bracelet. I recall seeing the original drawings online for these pieces years ago, perhaps when the hermitage had photos via wikipedia. So not totally eliminated yet, but more information on the source of the drawings is needed.

Re: Engagement jewels of Nicholas II & Alexandra Posted by Beth on May 5, 2019, 7:42 pm, in reply to "Re: Engagement jewels of Nicholas II & Alexandra" I am intrigued by all this Kat Max. And, because I know nothing about these jewels, I am looking forward to anything which you discover. Please keep us informed.

Re: Engagement jewels of Nicholas II & Alexandra Posted by kat max on May 6, 2019, 9:13 pm, in reply to "Re: Engagement jewels of Nicholas II & Alexandra" I finally found the source of the drawings of Alexandra's sapphire jewel set. I wasn't wrong, its in the hermitage, and the pieces are all dated 1894 by the jewellery Firm 'Friedrich Koechli' but as Ursula kindly pointed out these items weren't delivered till 1895. It was just nice to find the internet sources of these drawings again. Google image search isn't what it used to be.... https://www.arthermitage.org/Designs-of-pieces-from-the-headdress-decorated-with-sapphires-and-brilliants.html

Re: Engagement jewels of Nicholas II & Alexandra Posted by Beth on May 7, 2019, 6:33 am, in reply to "Re: Engagement jewels of Nicholas II & Alexandra" Very interesting. I wonder if all these designs form part of submissions to the Imperial court so that the Emperor and Empress could make their selection?

Re: Engagement jewels of Nicholas II & Alexandra Posted by Alvaro on May 9, 2019, 7:21 pm, in reply to "Engagement jewels of Nicholas II & Alexandra" Amazing story, shapphires are one of the most beautiful jewels, but I rather ruby. Previous Message I have been taking a look at the jewels accumulated by Tsarina Alexandra Feodorovna of Russia during her engagment period. Information on these jewels is scattered all over the place and I've yet to find a single easily laid out list of what she got. However, I have pieced together the following: On the 16th April at Easter following the engagement Alexandra received a stunning engagement present - a parure of diamonds and sapphires from her future father-in-law, Tsar Alexander III, made by the jeweller Koechli. (It is my assumption here that this is the set she received first based on the description below and the fact it is a known engagement gift.) Nicholas had been asked to find out Alexandra's favourite stone and she replied "sapphires". Alexandra wrote to her future mother-in-law, Empress Marie Feodorovna: ‘How can I thank you and dear Uncle enough for the magnificent present you were so awfully kind as to send me. It is much too beautiful for me! It gave me quite a shock when I opened up the case – saw those beautiful stones." Nicholas and Alexandra parted ways after this. Nicholas went back to Russia and Alexandra went to Windsor to visit her grandmother Queen Victoria. Nicholas took the family boat the Polar Star and joined Alexandra at Windsor from June 8-12, 1894 While he was there it looks like she got the following jewels: • A chain bracelet with a large emerald • A brooch with pearl drops • small diamond and pearl crown by Boucheron (FF27,500) • A jewelled fan with the imperial coat of arms by Lalique • sapphire and diamond brooch (This was a gift from Alexander III to his future daughter-in-law) • A five row necklace of large pink pearls created by Faberge (250,000 Gold roubles) and was the single most expensive item purchased by the Imperial house from the jeweller. The last thing he gave her before he left was a pink pearl ring as her engagement ring. Oddly enough there don't seem to be any easy to recognise photos of this piece. After Alexandra arrived in Russia, but before her wedding Nicholas gave her the following items: • Siberian aquamarine and diamond brooch with a zig zag design around the edge by Faberge purchased on 10th August 1894 (1,100 roubles) • A magnificent pearl necklace, with a diamond set clasp purchased on 10th August 1894 from Faberge (177,600 roubles) If anyone can provide any other information about the gifts Alexandra was given during this period of time I would appreciate it. It is especially hard to seperate out the information on the pearl necklaces and brooches. Alexandra apparently kept all her jewels in her bedroom in special storage. Although she didn't love jewellery like her mother-in-law Marie but she did see it as a hedge against disaster and encouraged people to give her jewels as gifts - especially sentimental pieces which she frequently wore. https://www.thejmum.com

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