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QEII. Burmese ruby tiara. Love it or hate it? Posted by Beth on January 3, 2020, 6:34 pm As I am suffering from overload during this bushfire season and cannot put my mind to things, I thought I would introduce a topic which needs no great thought -- QEII's Burmese ruby tiara. Do you love it, hate it, or are neutral? Some reasons for points of view might help others shape their opinions. Some might even like to outline the history of the jewels which went into this tiara, as not everyone is familiar with how QEII sourced the gemstones for this jewel.

Re: QEII. Burmese ruby tiara. Love it or hate it? Posted by Laurent F on January 3, 2020, 10:34 pm, in reply to "QEII. Burmese ruby tiara. Love it or hate it?" Very 70's !! it could have been better considering they dismantled the beautiful Nizam of Hyderabad to create this one.

Re: QEII. Burmese ruby tiara. Love it or hate it? Posted by Maridje on January 3, 2020, 11:18 pm, in reply to "Re: QEII. Burmese ruby tiara. Love it or hate it?" In 1973, The House of Garrard received the commission from Queen Elizabeth herself. The Queen used gems from wedding presents she received for her wedding with Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh on 20 November 1947. For her wedding Princess Elizabeth was given : - A necklace consisting of 96 rubies by the people of Burma. - 2 pendants diamonds and rubies, from a Burmese Women Liberation Movement. The tiara includes 96 Burmese rubies Her Majesty received from the People of Burma. The number 96 is not by accident, represents the 96 diseases the Burmese believe can afflict the human body, » rubies in Burmese culture protect from illness and evil." Wearing them guards the wearer not only against illness but also against evil. The queen has never worn the necklace in public. The necklace was broken up and the rubies were used together with an other wedding present The Nizam of Hyderabad tiara who was dismantled. The rubies were used with the diamonds from the tiara to make the Burmese ruby tiara. The tiara is a wreath of roses separated by rays of diamonds, each rose has a ruby center with diamonds for petals and each rose is connected by a line of rubies. The rubies are set in gold and the diamonds in silver. Per Garrards, the tiara's jewels "are set in a series of rose motifs inspired by the Tudor Rose, the heraldic symbol of Britain." Broken and dismantled : Burma Necklace Nizam of Hyderabad Tiara Not really "my cup of tea". Maridje

Re: QEII. Burmese ruby tiara. Love it or hate it? Posted by Andrew on January 4, 2020, 5:08 am, in reply to "Re: QEII. Burmese ruby tiara. Love it or hate it?" Ooooh, I am glad you identified the original necklace. I didn't know that one. I for one don't hate it. Would I choose it? No. But I do not hate it. I wish the ROSES were symmetrical and that the ruby centers were set not jumbled like. But the overall shape, the imagery, and way it sits on the head are all wonderful. Previous Message In 1973, The House of Garrard received the commission from Queen Elizabeth herself. The Queen used gems from wedding presents she received for her wedding with Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh on 20 November 1947. For her wedding Princess Elizabeth was given : - A necklace consisting of 96 rubies by the people of Burma. - 2 pendants diamonds and rubies, from a Burmese Women Liberation Movement. The tiara includes 96 Burmese rubies Her Majesty received from the People of Burma. The number 96 is not by accident, represents the 96 diseases the Burmese believe can afflict the human body, » rubies in Burmese culture protect from illness and evil." Wearing them guards the wearer not only against illness but also against evil. The queen has never worn the necklace in public. The necklace was broken up and the rubies were used together with an other wedding present The Nizam of Hyderabad tiara who was dismantled. The rubies were used with the diamonds from the tiara to make the Burmese ruby tiara. The tiara is a wreath of roses separated by rays of diamonds, each rose has a ruby center with diamonds for petals and each rose is connected by a line of rubies. The rubies are set in gold and the diamonds in silver. Per Garrards, the tiara's jewels "are set in a series of rose motifs inspired by the Tudor Rose, the heraldic symbol of Britain." Broken and dismantled : Burma Necklace Nizam of Hyderabad Tiara Not really "my cup of tea".

Re: QEII. Burmese ruby tiara. Love it or hate it? Posted by RDavid on January 4, 2020, 6:37 am, in reply to "QEII. Burmese ruby tiara. Love it or hate it?" Team love it here! I like the symbolism of the rose of York and the combination of rubies mounted in gold and diamonds in silver! It suits HM better than the Nizam and it was a nice way to “give some life” to those burmese rubies. Would like to see how it works in someone with darker hair! David

Re: QEII. Burmese ruby tiara. Love it or hate it? Posted by Dave on January 4, 2020, 10:13 am, in reply to "QEII. Burmese ruby tiara. Love it or hate it?" I must be honest and state that I did not like this tiara when I first discovered it. But you know the saying 'grows on you' well it did just that and I now see its beauty every time I see it. However the only thing I feel could have made it more profound is if it could have been designed in a two tire way like the lost French ruby tiara which could have been worn in two a top tire and a bottom tire. Now if it had been done in this way it would have been the most significant ruby tiara around now. But that is only my wandering thoughts. Thanks for this debate Beth. Regards, Dave. Previous Message As I am suffering from overload during this bushfire season and cannot put my mind to things, I thought I would introduce a topic which needs no great thought -- QEII's Burmese ruby tiara. Do you love it, hate it, or are neutral? Some reasons for points of view might help others shape their opinions. Some might even like to outline the history of the jewels which went into this tiara, as not everyone is familiar with how QEII sourced the gemstones for this jewel.

Re: QEII. Burmese ruby tiara. Love it or hate it? Posted by Franck on January 4, 2020, 7:51 pm, in reply to "Re: QEII. Burmese ruby tiara. Love it or hate it?" Dear Maridje, I thank you for all these photos ! Happy new year, Franck Previous Message I must be honest and state that I did not like this tiara when I first discovered it. But you know the saying 'grows on you' well it did just that and I now see its beauty every time I see it. However the only thing I feel could have made it more profound is if it could have been designed in a two tire way like the lost French ruby tiara which could have been worn in two a top tire and a bottom tire. Now if it had been done in this way it would have been the most significant ruby tiara around now. But that is only my wandering thoughts. Thanks for this debate Beth. Regards, Dave. Previous Message As I am suffering from overload during this bushfire season and cannot put my mind to things, I thought I would introduce a topic which needs no great thought -- QEII's Burmese ruby tiara. Do you love it, hate it, or are neutral? Some reasons for points of view might help others shape their opinions. Some might even like to outline the history of the jewels which went into this tiara, as not everyone is familiar with how QEII sourced the gemstones for this jewel.

Re: QEII. Burmese ruby tiara. Love it or hate it? Posted by Juscha on January 5, 2020, 1:25 am, in reply to "QEII. Burmese ruby tiara. Love it or hate it?" Hi Beth! Thank you for opening this threat. Also thank you Maridje, for posting the very heldful pictures. Indeed, I needed some time to get warm with this tiara. But now I guess it is very underestimated. The design follows a well thought-out, convincing concept, much more than for example the sapphire tiara (lovely, but just a necklace on wire) or the nice but a little bit pieced together aquamarine tiara. The scetches posted by Maridje shows this design concept very well. Interesting by the way the arrangements of the rubies in the draft. They are put together asymmetrically. Like pollen leaves which looses up the strict form and gives the design a more naturalistic touch. Very thoughtful. But in the executed jewel the rubies has been arranged like petals and symmetric. A red flower in a white flower. Certainly more regal, indeed the english symbol, but also a lot more stiff. Perhaps the rubies of the necklace used were cut and for pollen leaves carbochons would have been the better choice. A more technical question: the setting of the rubies in yellow gold make sense but why silver instead of platinium for the Diamonds in the 70s? I always thought it would be lighter than silver (and don´t tarnish). Previous Message As I am suffering from overload during this bushfire season and cannot put my mind to things, I thought I would introduce a topic which needs no great thought -- QEII's Burmese ruby tiara. Do you love it, hate it, or are neutral? Some reasons for points of view might help others shape their opinions. Some might even like to outline the history of the jewels which went into this tiara, as not everyone is familiar with how QEII sourced the gemstones for this jewel.

Re: QEII. Burmese ruby tiara. Love it or hate it? Posted by J-F on January 5, 2020, 12:20 pm, in reply to "Re: QEII. Burmese ruby tiara. Love it or hate it?" Hi, I don't like this one. 1-I'm not a big fan of flower designed tiara. 2-The yellow gold setting of the rubies made this tiara too oriental for my personal taste. 3-The diamond sprays between each flower outshine the ruby flowers. I think that a all white setting + different elements between the flower motifs would make it better looking. Thanks for that topic. J-F

Re: QEII. Burmese ruby tiara. Love it or hate it? Posted by mauriz on January 6, 2020, 12:12 am, in reply to "QEII. Burmese ruby tiara. Love it or hate it?" It's in my opinion an utterly graceless piece of jewellery, a pedestrian design poorly executed, unrefined and unbalanced. There's literally nothing about it I don't detest.

Re: QEII. Burmese ruby tiara. Love it or hate it? Posted by Ursula on January 6, 2020, 3:36 am, in reply to "Re: QEII. Burmese ruby tiara. Love it or hate it?" "It's in my opinion an utterly graceless piece of jewelry, a pedestrian design poorly executed, unrefined and unbalanced. There's literally nothing about it, I don't detest." That's true - ugly! But what do with a lot of small single rubies? I believe, a redo with large navette diamonds, like this, but in white gold only or platinum: Vanderbilt Boucheron Ruby Diamond Tiara

Re: QEII. Burmese ruby tiara. Love it or hate it? Posted by Jonathan Phillips [AKA JPRP] on February 23, 2024, 3:47 am, in reply to "Re: QEII. Burmese ruby tiara. Love it or hate it?" Now that Queen Camilla has worn it more 'opened up', with her [uncanny] ability to make unlovely items look beautiful, i'm 'warming to it', but the Yellow gold setting off the Rubies still 'jars' and ruins any cohesion the design might have had. By the 70's Garrard was well 'past its best', and unable to do the stones justice [as Cartier or Boucheron STILL do. For myself , had l been commissioning a tiara using these stones, i'd have taken inspiration from the Bolin Ruby and Diamond Necklace made for Grand Duchess Marie Alexandrovna, when she became Duchess of Edinburgh, a timeless piece, using MANY small Rubies to great effect.

Re: QEII. Burmese ruby tiara. Love it or hate it? Posted by JR76 on January 6, 2020, 3:48 pm, in reply to "QEII. Burmese ruby tiara. Love it or hate it?" Up until not that long ago I used to revel in my hate for the Burmese Ruby tiara and Queen Sofia's tiara which is so frequently worn by Queen Silvia of Sweden. Now, rather strangely, I'm quite fond of both after seeing them in closeups and looking at the details. I think that Queen Elizabeth's hair colour long helped to hide the details of the Burmese Ruby tiara but it really is quite a lovely piece. A child of its time, yes, but a lovely one. Previous Message As I am suffering from overload during this bushfire season and cannot put my mind to things, I thought I would introduce a topic which needs no great thought -- QEII's Burmese ruby tiara. Do you love it, hate it, or are neutral? Some reasons for points of view might help others shape their opinions. Some might even like to outline the history of the jewels which went into this tiara, as not everyone is familiar with how QEII sourced the gemstones for this jewel.

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