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Queen Mary's Incredible diamond sautoir Posted by Franck on January 10, 2022, 12:13 am Incredible new information has been given to us by " Russian Treasure" on Instagram. From him : " A collection of 14 large diamonds, the total weight of which was 238 carats, was once bought by His Majesty's Cabinet abroad. On July 29, 1874, Empress Maria Alexandrovna ordered the use of these stones to create a rich necklace. It was intended as a gift to the bride of her son Vladimir, Duchess Marie of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. The creation of the piece was entrusted to the court jeweler Leopold K. Zeftingen. The necklace was prepared four days before the Grand Ducal wedding, on August 24, 1874. Valued at 95,000 rubles, it consisted of 38 diamond collets, most of which were added by Zeftingen himself. Then the jeweler received 500 rubles for his work. Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna, as she became known in Russia after her marriage to Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich, often wore this necklace. For example, at the masquerade ball of 1883, diamonds were sewn on Maria Pavlovna's kokoshnik. British Queen Mary loved revière necklaces very much and after The Russian Revolution agreed to purchase this piece. One of the 38 colets had been lost by that time. In 1928, the Queen ordered the creation of a new sautoir necklace using Maria Pavlovna's revière. The Russian archives keep tables on the sizes of the sautoir's diamond collets, which now belongs to Queen Elizabeth II. One 18-carat diamond, one 6-carat diamond; six 19-carat diamonds, six 11-carat diamonds; two 25, 17, 16, 10, 9 and 8-carat diamonds; four 15, 14 and 12-carat diamonds." The total weight of the sautoir is at least 548 carats...More than the Coronation necklace... the central stone of the sautoir is 25 carats !! a. Before the QD : - I have always been struck by the fact that no information was given to us from the royal collection about the sautoir (between 1953 and 2012). Not worn Not lent to exhibitions..so sad for such a beauty ! b. In the QD : - I have noticed that no information was given concerning the weight of the most important stones. - I have also noticed that we have no good photos of Queen Mary's wearing the necklace....Only a painting and a photo hiding the large part of the sautoir.... Like if the author wanted to 'hide the real weight...and the real value of the necklace". Sadly, the only photo where we can infer the weight of each stone is this one : I do wish that one day we will see the necklace worn at a coronation or at exhibitions...which would be indubitably, if the weight of the sones is correct, the most important necklace in the Royal collection. Franck

Re: Queen Mary's Incredible diamond sautoir Posted by Crowne on January 10, 2022, 3:42 am, in reply to "Queen Mary's Incredible diamond sautoir " Sautoir's seemed to have quite a short period of popularity. Robert's states that 'the sautoir unfastens to form two necklaces, one of 19 and one of ten large stones, and two bracelets, each of four large stones'. This sounds much more practical, so a bit disappointing that we haven't seen it worn in these unfastened sections. I'll add it to my wish list of things to bring out the vault!

Re: Queen Mary's Incredible diamond sautoir Posted by Dave on January 10, 2022, 8:47 am, in reply to "Queen Mary's Incredible diamond sautoir " Thanks Franck, did not know of this particular purchase by the late QM. I can recall there was a discussion I'm not sure if it was on this board but it could have been on RJoTWMB where there was information provided on the purchases made by Queen Mary. I think the necklace you are hinting at was mentioned but I'm shocked by the carat weight of the diamonds. I wonder if this necklace was the one which could of been worn by the Empress who was QA's sister, but I believe that necklace was made up of large pear drops, but the stones were comparable in size I believe. They are so many diamond necklaces in the BRF, king George VI give his Queen the late QEQM a diamond necklace for their coronation, could it have came from this necklace we speak? Or could the triple strand necklace gifted to the Queen by her dad came from this very necklace? Can you send us the link to the information? Thanks, Dave. Previous Message Incredible new information has been given to us by " Russian Treasure" on Instagram. From him : " A collection of 14 large diamonds, the total weight of which was 238 carats, was once bought by His Majesty's Cabinet abroad. On July 29, 1874, Empress Maria Alexandrovna ordered the use of these stones to create a rich necklace. It was intended as a gift to the bride of her son Vladimir, Duchess Marie of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. The creation of the piece was entrusted to the court jeweler Leopold K. Zeftingen. The necklace was prepared four days before the Grand Ducal wedding, on August 24, 1874. Valued at 95,000 rubles, it consisted of 38 diamond collets, most of which were added by Zeftingen himself. Then the jeweler received 500 rubles for his work. Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna, as she became known in Russia after her marriage to Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich, often wore this necklace. For example, at the masquerade ball of 1883, diamonds were sewn on Maria Pavlovna's kokoshnik. British Queen Mary loved revière necklaces very much and after The Russian Revolution agreed to purchase this piece. One of the 38 colets had been lost by that time. In 1928, the Queen ordered the creation of a new sautoir necklace using Maria Pavlovna's revière. The Russian archives keep tables on the sizes of the sautoir's diamond collets, which now belongs to Queen Elizabeth II. One 18-carat diamond, one 6-carat diamond; six 19-carat diamonds, six 11-carat diamonds; two 25, 17, 16, 10, 9 and 8-carat diamonds; four 15, 14 and 12-carat diamonds." The total weight of the sautoir is at least 548 carats...More than the Coronation necklace... the central stone of the sautoir is 25 carats !! a. Before the QD : - I have always been struck by the fact that no information was given to us from the royal collection about the sautoir (between 1953 and 2012). Not worn Not lent to exhibitions..so sad for such a beauty ! b. In the QD : - I have noticed that no information was given concerning the weight of the most important stones. - I have also noticed that we have no good photos of Queen Mary's wearing the necklace....Only a painting and a photo hiding the large part of the sautoir.... Like if the author wanted to 'hide the real weight...and the real value of the necklace". Sadly, the only photo where we can infer the weight of each stone is this one : I do wish that one day we will see the necklace worn at a coronation or at exhibitions...which would be indubitably, if the weight of the sones is correct, the some important necklace in the Royal collection. Franck

Re: Queen Mary's Incredible diamond sautoir Posted by Dave on January 10, 2022, 8:54 am, in reply to "Re: Queen Mary's Incredible diamond sautoir " Can anyone identify the colored stone at the center of the tiara worn by QM? I know that particular tiara went to the Duchess of Gloucester her daughter in law but I can't recall the size or shaped stone being seen. The shape seems Sq cut. Regards, Dave. Previous Message Thanks Franck, did not know of this particular purchase by the late QM. I can recall there was a discussion I'm not sure if it was on this board but it could have been on RJoTWMB where there was information provided on the purchases made by Queen Mary. I think the necklace you are hinting at was mentioned but I'm shocked by the carat weight of the diamonds. I wonder if this necklace was the one which could of been worn by the Empress who was QA's sister, but I believe that necklace was made up of large pear drops, but the stones were comparable in size I believe. They are so many diamond necklaces in the BRF, king George VI give his Queen the late QEQM a diamond necklace for their coronation, could it have came from this necklace we speak? Or could the triple strand necklace gifted to the Queen by her dad came from this very necklace? Can you send us the link to the information? Thanks, Dave. Previous Message Incredible new information has been given to us by " Russian Treasure" on Instagram. From him : " A collection of 14 large diamonds, the total weight of which was 238 carats, was once bought by His Majesty's Cabinet abroad. On July 29, 1874, Empress Maria Alexandrovna ordered the use of these stones to create a rich necklace. It was intended as a gift to the bride of her son Vladimir, Duchess Marie of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. The creation of the piece was entrusted to the court jeweler Leopold K. Zeftingen. The necklace was prepared four days before the Grand Ducal wedding, on August 24, 1874. Valued at 95,000 rubles, it consisted of 38 diamond collets, most of which were added by Zeftingen himself. Then the jeweler received 500 rubles for his work. Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna, as she became known in Russia after her marriage to Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich, often wore this necklace. For example, at the masquerade ball of 1883, diamonds were sewn on Maria Pavlovna's kokoshnik. British Queen Mary loved revière necklaces very much and after The Russian Revolution agreed to purchase this piece. One of the 38 colets had been lost by that time. In 1928, the Queen ordered the creation of a new sautoir necklace using Maria Pavlovna's revière. The Russian archives keep tables on the sizes of the sautoir's diamond collets, which now belongs to Queen Elizabeth II. One 18-carat diamond, one 6-carat diamond; six 19-carat diamonds, six 11-carat diamonds; two 25, 17, 16, 10, 9 and 8-carat diamonds; four 15, 14 and 12-carat diamonds." The total weight of the sautoir is at least 548 carats...More than the Coronation necklace... the central stone of the sautoir is 25 carats !! a. Before the QD : - I have always been struck by the fact that no information was given to us from the royal collection about the sautoir (between 1953 and 2012). Not worn Not lent to exhibitions..so sad for such a beauty ! b. In the QD : - I have noticed that no information was given concerning the weight of the most important stones. - I have also noticed that we have no good photos of Queen Mary's wearing the necklace....Only a painting and a photo hiding the large part of the sautoir.... Like if the author wanted to 'hide the real weight...and the real value of the necklace". Sadly, the only photo where we can infer the weight of each stone is this one : I do wish that one day we will see the necklace worn at a coronation or at exhibitions...which would be indubitably, if the weight of the sones is correct, the some important necklace in the Royal collection. Franck

Re: Queen Mary's Incredible diamond sautoir Posted by Beth on January 10, 2022, 2:32 pm, in reply to "Re: Queen Mary's Incredible diamond sautoir " According to Hugh Roberts in The Queen's Diamonds the three necklaces mentioned by Dave are all separate items, and he has traced the source of the diamonds for each of the necklaces. I suspect there was no mention of the sautoir between 1953 and Roberts' book simply because QEII chose not to wear it -- at least in public. The reasons why QEII chose not to wear it are no doubt manifold; she had her own South African necklace which has a similar design and which she shortened to her taste. Perhaps more interestingly, Roberts has modern photographs of each jewel. Re Queen Mary wearing the sautior as two necklaces. The photos I have found suggest that she wore the sautoir as two necklaces for day wear on semi-grand official occasions, such as garden parties at Buckingham Palace and for a lunch at the Guildhall. Garden party 1937 Garden Party 1938. Only one necklace was worn. 1939. Lunch at Guildhall for a ceremonial welcome home for George VI & QEQM after their north American tour. Queen Mary wearing the sautoir for evening and formal portraits. 1934 The back of the necklace from the same occasion as above. A formal portrait in 1930. This photo was found by J-F.

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