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I don't know if this has been discussed before, but FD Gallery in New York shared this picture today and it's new to me. I've never seen the Collier with the attached drops.
In this post by Beth https://mb.boardhost.com/historyroyaljewels/msg/1547930394.html there is a painting of Alexandra and her sister - could Alexandra be wearing her collier, with attached drops, below a choker? I see dots of red and green in the painting, or at least I think I do.
Welcome Lennick. Its always good to go over topics like this. QA's Colliers has not been seen sense the days of QM the one Queen refereed to as a Christmas tree. I wonder if they are still in the royal vaults and if or when they may be dawned by the DoCorn or Cambridge.
I don't know if this has been discussed before, but FD Gallery in New York shared this picture today and it's new to me. I've never seen the Collier with the attached drops.
In this post by Beth https://mb.boardhost.com/historyroyaljewels/msg/1547930394.html there is a painting of Alexandra and her sister - could Alexandra be wearing her collier, with attached drops, below a choker? I see dots of red and green in the painting, or at least I think I do.
Welcome to the board Lennick! What an interesting topic! I think that many of us are intrigued by this necklace.
At present I cannot see the "stories" attached to Instagram posts, so I don't know what the gallery said.
The photo of the collier resille from the Cartier archives was posted on RJWMB in 2015 after Franck alerted us to an article by Christophe Vachaudez on Cartier and the British royal family.
Whether the painting and the archival photo show the same jewel is something I cannot decide upon. For me the problem is that the painting gives an impression of a choker which spreads onto the upper chest. The painting suggests rubies and emeralds, but crucially it also suggests that there is a different central element in the bottom half of the necklace.
It is possible that Queen Alexandra attached a separate brooch to the front of the necklace. How I would love to know!
We know that the Cartier collier resille with the emeralds and ruby drops was the one worn by Queen Mary without any coloured gemstone drops
Queen Mary 1926
Queen Mary 80th birthday portrait
and, of course, by Queen Alexandra as seen in the photos taken after the wedding of her granddaughter, Alexandra, Duchess of Fife, Princess Arthur of Connaught.
Alexandra 1913
Obviously the ruby and emerald drops in the Cartier collier resille were detachable as seen in the 1913 photos where Queen Alexandra wears the necklace in an all diamond version with what looks like a large pear shaped pearl.
One possibility which crossed my mind in relation to the painting (of the Empress and Queen Alexandra) is if Queen Alexandra was wearing below a diamond choker the 1901 Cartier necklace. It is the first described in Franck's list here https://members2.boardhost.com/royal-jewels/msg/archive/1446253218.html
But, if that were so, then I would expect to see more emeralds in the painting.
At present I cannot see the "stories" attached to Instagram posts, so I don't know what the gallery said.
The gallery's photo caption reads: "Archive photograph of a résille diamond and platinum necklace made by Cartier in 1904 for Queen Alexandra. It is set with detachable ruby and emerald cabochon drops. Alexandra wears it in a 1908 portrait that hangs in Buckingham Palace, and it was last seen in public worn by Queen Mary in the 1930s."
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Obviously the ruby and emerald drops in the Cartier collier resille were detachable as seen in the 1913 photos where Queen Alexandra wears the necklace in an all diamond version with what looks like a large pear shaped pearl.
I've never seen such a large copy of the photo from the Cartier archives. What I find interesting and quite surprising is the way the ruby and emerald pendants are attached to the bottom diamonds. It looks as if simple spring rings were used to make them removable, which would be a rather rough and unrefined way to achieve versatility – and hardly what I'd expect from Cartier.
Thank you for putting up the photo Mauriz - I couldn't figure out how to do it! And you're right about the odd connections - I can't understand why Cartier would mount them that way unless instructed to do so, and even then why attach them at all? They don't seem to complement the design at all.
Thank you Beth for that comprehensive post, this necklace really is a mystery.