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Hohenzollern sapphire parure and tiara rhodium-plated?
Posted by Juscha on May 13, 2021, 10:39 pm
Yesterday, the Hohenzollern Sapphire Parure from the estate of Stephanie de Beauharnais and the Sapphire Tiara of Queen Isabella were sold at Christie's Magnificent Jewels Auction. Financially, it ended up quite successful. The description says it's gold, as nineteenth century jewellery is mostly gold and silver, except towards the end of the century when platinum and later white gold came along. So I had expected to see perhaps silver frames with gold settings for the sapphires, silver settings for the diamonds and gold plating on the back to prevent the silver from coming into contact with the skin. Instead, the entire parure is set in brilliant white material, without the slightest sign of tarnish, except for a few tiny golden spots on the back of the bandeau. I found the same thing with Queen Isabella's tiara. Could it be that the Hohenzollerns had the jewels rhodium-plated or that the settings are completely renewed in white gold (I donīt believe that for real)? My inner custodian is horrified. On the other hand, it would be much more practical to use and would save cleaning, which is certainly stressful for the material. https://www.christies.com/en/lot/lot-6315864 What are your thoughts?
Looking at the prices reached for the Hohenzollern tiaras and the Savoy tiara, I can't help but imagine we will see other royal and noble houses selling significant items at auction in the years to come - the numbers are insane!
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Yesterday, the Hohenzollern Sapphire Parure from the estate of Stephanie de Beauharnais and the Sapphire Tiara of Queen Isabella were sold at Christie's Magnificent Jewels Auction. Financially, it ended up quite successful. The description says it's gold, as nineteenth century jewellery is mostly gold and silver, except towards the end of the century when platinum and later white gold came along. So I had expected to see perhaps silver frames with gold settings for the sapphires, silver settings for the diamonds and gold plating on the back to prevent the silver from coming into contact with the skin. Instead, the entire parure is set in brilliant white material, without the slightest sign of tarnish, except for a few tiny golden spots on the back of the bandeau. I found the same thing with Queen Isabella's tiara. Could it be that the Hohenzollerns had the jewels rhodium-plated or that the settings are completely renewed in white gold (I donīt believe that for real)? My inner custodian is horrified. On the other hand, it would be much more practical to use and would save cleaning, which is certainly stressful for the material. https://www.christies.com/en/lot/lot-6315864 What are your thoughts?
Re: Hohenzollern sapphire parure and tiara rhodium-plated?
This has intrigued me for hours Juscha, as I can see what you mean about the lack of tarnish in most areas, but there is tarnish in some inaccessible places. I have the feeling that all the jewels have been cleaned to within an inch of their lives! Perhaps that is why yellow gold is showing through in places.
Yet, if the jewels had been rhodium plated, I would expect the plating to wear off more quickly in other areas.
I think this is one area where we need expert advice. The gold we can see suggests that, underneath the white looking metal, is yellow gold.
You have presented a little mystery which has captured my imagination.
Re: Hohenzollern sapphire parure and tiara rhodium-plated?
Thank you very much for your answer, dear Beth. Yes, there are some puzzles in there. Some golden spots can be seen, especially at joints. In some other places it looks like there is black tarnished silver. There are also a few areas on the backs that look like old silver that hasn't been cleaned for some time, but hasn't tarnished yet. That slightly yellowish glow that I really like. Or is it more gold that shines through there? All in all, you have to look pretty closely to find that.
Probably such questions are quite uninteresting for most people. But I find it very exciting how such a piece of jewellery is constructed. It says so much about the artist, the taste of the time, the cost and therefore the economic, even the political contexts. It tells the story of a piece of jewellery through time and therefore the story of the people it is associated with.
If the Sapphire Parure is at least partly gold, which I have no doubt about in principle, then why cover the back completely with silver? That makes no sense. It brings no visual advantage because it is not visible. Whether it can lead to discolouration on the jewellery or on the skin is a question for a professional to answer. It probably also has to do with the alloy.
As a hypothesis, I continue to assume that the parure is made of gold as well as silver, as this seems to apply to most sets with diamonds and coloured stones from the beginning of the 19th century. I have tried to find good pictures of the reverse of the Norwegian emerald tiara, as it may be of the same provenance and/or by the same jeweller. Also information about the composition of the ruby set of the Empress Marie Louise, to which there are similarities, although somewhat "downsized", could be helpful, as well as pictures of the backs of other jewels from Nitot's environment. Perhaps we can deduce regularities from them. Unfortunately, I have not yet found anything useful.
Re: Hohenzollern sapphire parure and tiara rhodium-plated?
I have been pondering on this question for days now Juscha and I have come to the conclusion that you are correct: that the jewels have been rhodium plated.
In the catalogue it notes that the jewels are made of gold; there is no mention of silver. That could be a mistake however, as in the description of the large emerald brooch which was sold, the catalogue also says it is made of gold; yet, the photos clearly show that the diamonds have been set in silver.
One of the things which surprised me was to see a white metal setting around the sapphires, as my understanding is that coloured stones like emeralds and sapphires were set in yellow gold at the time.
For example as in the tiara of the Duchess of Angouleme.
I was perplexed by images of the back of the tiara until I read the report, which states that the colour of the sapphires has been influenced by blue enamel in the setting.
Thank you so much, Beth, for taking the time to solve this mystery. I was afraid I was on the wrong track. To prevent tarnishing and regular cleaning of the jewels, perhaps that would be a possible, but somewhat brutal and unusual solution. Engineering style, as I know it rather from far less expensive exhibits. If we are correct in our assumption, the jewels are technically still in their original condition, but they have still lost their authenticity. A great pity. Looking for similar pieces as a reference for the joint use of gold and silver, I found the Norwegian emerald tiara pretty much set in gold (emeralds) and silver (diamonds) like the Angouleme emerald tiara. But I think it's possible that the Swedish Leuchtenberg Sapphire Tiara is set in silver:
Christin Zi auf Twitter: "Internationally you admire this jewellery. Many of those pieces came to Sweden through Queen Josefina. - HM #QueenSilvia #KungligaSmycken #Kungahuset 📸 SVT https://t.co/8lfrszBRBm" / Twitter https://twitter.com/i/status/1246169948239671298 Does anyone know more about this?
This video shows how high quality pieces from the first half of the 19th century were put together and how elaborate professional cleaning is:
How vibrant the jewels are, especially in the mix of materials and even when the silver is not at its brightest!
As it seems, the possible rhodium plating is not the first, shall we say, minor cheating on these jewels. Foiled stones were quite common, the sapphire setting with a blue enamelled background is new to me. I had assumed that the half-closed setting was to give the light an optimal reflection. I will try to find an expert to check whether rhodium plating by electroplating is possible without damaging the sapphires. But maybe we find some expert here who had about rhodium plating or had heard about it in connection jewellery?
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I have been pondering on this question for days now Juscha and I have come to the conclusion that you are correct: that the jewels have been rhodium plated.
In the catalogue it notes that the jewels are made of gold; there is no mention of silver. That could be a mistake however, as in the description of the large emerald brooch which was sold, the catalogue also says it is made of gold; yet, the photos clearly show that the diamonds have been set in silver.
One of the things which surprised me was to see a white metal setting around the sapphires, as my understanding is that coloured stones like emeralds and sapphires were set in yellow gold at the time.
For example as in the tiara of the Duchess of Angouleme.
I was perplexed by images of the back of the tiara until I read the report, which states that the colour of the sapphires has been influenced by blue enamel in the setting.
Many thanks Juscha for that very interesting video on the cleaning of the Fife tiara. I have no doubt that the video showed the easy part of the cleaning. It must have been laborious work to clean the non-removable sections, even if they had been in an acid bath for a time!
To answer some of the queries.
1. I know that the settings around sapphires and rubies can be rhodium plated. I have friends who had that done when fashions changed to favour white gold settings for engagement rings. I, personally, favour a gold setting for strong coloured gemstones like sapphires, rubies and emeralds. But I know from friends that jewellers have refused to rhodium plate emerald rings -- I suspect that is because emeralds are a much more fragile gemstone.
The other issue which I should have addressed days ago is the the issue of tarnish.
I don't know about conditions in Europe, but in my part of the world some ladies will not wear silver jewels because of the problems tarnishing causes. I think it is a problem caused (in hot, humid climates) because of the humidity, which intensifies tarnish, and a reaction with the skin of the wearer. What ever the cause, silver jewellery when tarnished can leave marks on a person's skin and on clothing. For those whose skin reacts to silver, the marks can be a nuisance, leaving marks which, although they can be washed off, can need vigorous washing for some people. On some types of clothing, the black tarnish can be difficult to remove. It really depends on the type of fabric, how robust the fibers are, etc. The other factor which I know increases the propensity of silver jewellery to tarnish very quickly (in Australia) is proximity to the sea. The salt in the air ensures that those whose skin reacts to silver combined with humidity means that tarnishing happens very quickly, often within a couple of hours.
But, I suspect that those conditions wouldn't be a major problem in most parts of Europe.
on May 13, 2021, 10:39 pm
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