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Princess Irene of Greece
Posted by Xavi24 on July 22, 2021, 11:04 am
Princess Irene of Greece and Denmark is one of my favorite royals. She’s such an enigmatic character, shrouded by a veil of mystery, always placed at the back following the order of precedence. There’s not that much info about her jewels or what she inherited from her mother. All we know is that she most likely received the Pearl Necklace Tiara and Queen Sophie’s Diamond Circle Tiara.
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/791578071999324557/ In this picture she is seen wearing a pair of earrings that shares design with her mother’s ruby ear pendants that ended up with Queen Sofia. Princess Irene’s are set with what I believe are turquoises. She’s also seen wearing a seed pearl necklace with some other stones in it. On her right hand she’s wearing a four-row pearl bracelet and on her left hand she wears a bracelet that looks like the one from Queen Anne Marie’s Van Cleef and Arpels suite. (Thank u @royalwatcher I really liked your post on the suite
https://royalwatcherblog.com/2017/03/27/royal-flashback-march-27/amp/ On this picture taken during a French State Visit to Greece made by President De Gaulle, Princess Irene is wearing her mother’s pearl/necklace tiara as well as a seed pearl necklace with a diamond clasp never seen again, perhaps it also became part of her inheritance.
https://en.todocoleccion.net/collectables-magazine-newspapers/irene-grecia-loas-joyas~x203611645#&gid=1&pid=1 I was also able to find this article of a Spanish magazine regarding an auction made by the Princess of her jewels, all of which seem to be of modern design (The proceedings of the sale were destined to charitable organizations) The article is in Spanish, and the quality of the picture is really low, but I was able to translate some of the items descriptions. The lot included: *A bracelet of cultured pearls with a diamond and ruby clasp. *A pair of brooches in the form of pineapples studded with brilliants and emeralds, designed by René Boivin. *Also designed by Boivin, a set of brooch and earrings of turquoises, diamonds and gold in the form of flowers. *A magnificent set of necklace, ring and brooch made of pearls and platinum. *The most important item in the auction was a pair of earrings with rubies and diamonds that resembles strawberries. *A ring of rubies with a big diamond of 10.5 carats in the center. *An exquisite pair of earrings of diamonds and pearl pendants.
If anyone has been able to find pictures of the Princess in any other jewels that belonged to her mother or the ones described in the sale, pls post them! Thank you a have a lovely week!
Thank You for sharing the details about the auction of her jewels. I am really intrigued by Princess Irene's collection, as she seems to have quite a lot of lovely pieces but doesn't seem to wear them too often.
A jewel consistently worn by the Princess from the 1950s up to recently is her Pendant, HERE, which is quite a substantial piece, and fits in with the Greek Royal Family's tradition of wearing pendants.
A few weeks ago, Pablo Milstein wrote about the pearl necklace. Since the piece was also worn by her aunt, Princess Katherine, like Queen Sophia’s Diamond Circle Tiara, I wonder if both pieces might have belonged to Princess Katherine and were bought by King Paul in the early 1960s.
The Pearl and Diamond Necklace Tiara is quite a striking piece and if it still belongs to Princess Irene I hope she loans it or gives it to Crown Princess Marie Chantal, who no longer has a Tiara to wear, and this piece would suit her eclectic style.
With Princess Theodora having to share the Antique Corsage Tiara with Princess Tatiana and the new Princess Nina (who may buy a tiara of her own), I really hope we get to see more of Princess Irene's jewels in the next few years.
Because the fringe tiara she wore most of the time belongs to her daughter (it was christening gift from her maternal grandmother) and as she is no over 18 she wears it when attending Events where tiaras are worn. Marie Chantal probably still has the big diamond tiara from Queen Friederike which she wore once, but this probably too big for some of the Events.
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Sorry, I must have missed something, why does CP Marie Chantal no longer have a tiara to wear?
The jewels which were auctioned did not belong to princess Irene of Greece but to princess Pierre of Greece born Irene ovchinikov. At the time it got a few Spanish journalists into troubles because the catalogue mentioned the provenance as : HRH princess Irene of Greece and Denmark and a few people assumed that this Irene was the queen of Spain’s sister. In fact it was their aunt and the catalogue should have mentioned : HRH princess Pierre of Greece. Irene Ochinikov was a descendant from the famous Russian goldsmith family who fled Russia and found refuge in France. She married Prince Pierre of Greece in the 1930s, very much against the Greek royal family’s will. I have always heard her mentioned as a rather mysterious lady to say the least. She had a very interesting collection. A lot of Boivin pieces with fashionable designs. Her enormous ruby and diamonds lily clips were extraordinary. There was also a very nice ruby and diamond pair of Art Deco earrings. Altogether there were 20 pieces which today would be (and are actually) worth a fortune. At the time of the auction they were considered completely out of fashion. I remember seeing the whole collection in Christie’s Paris. They sold ( I mean the whole collection) for something around one million Swiss francs. I have the catalogue in Paris. The jewels were not at all what you would expect from a member of a royal family but much more like the collection of a very elegant french lady of the 1950s. Some pieces were to kill for in terms of design and workmanship.
I would love to see these pieces, especially the clips.
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Those jewels did not belong to princess Irene of Greece but to princess Pierre of Greece born Irene ovchinikov. She was a descendant from the famous Russian goldsmith family who fled Russia and found refuge in France. She married Prince Pierre of Greece in the 1930s, very much against the Greek royal family’s will. I have always heard her mentioned as a rather mysterious lady to say the least. She had a very interesting collection. A lot of Boivin pieces with fashionable designs. Her enormous ruby and diamonds lily clips were extraordinary. There was also a very nice ruby and diamond pair of Art Deco earrings. Altogether there were 20 pieces which today would be (and are actually) worth a fortune. At the time of the auction they were considered completely out of fashion. I remember seeing the whole collection in Christie’s Paris. They sold ( I mean the whole collection) for something around one million Swiss francs. I have the catalogue in Paris. The jewels were not at all what you would expect from a member of a royal family but much more like the collection of a very elegant french lady of the 1950s. Some pieces were to kill for in terms of design and workmanship.
Oml Thank you so much Vincent!! For setting the record straight! The magazine even goes as far as to say that the proceedings were to go to Mundo en Armonía which is Princess Irene’s Foundation... you can never trust sensationalist papers 😔
on July 22, 2021, 11:04 am
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