Today marks the 160th Anniversary of the Birth of Princess Paley, who was born on this day in 1865! The noblewoman who had an affair with a widower Grand Duke and later became his morganatic wife, Princess Paley possessed some spectacular jewels, which was highlighted by this splendid Cartier Diamond Drop Tiara!
Cartier Diamond Tiara | Cartier Aquamarine Parure | Pearl Corsage
In 1911, this magnificent Damond Drop Tiara was created by Cartier from an existing Tiara that had been made in 1908. It featured seven pear-shaped Diamonds set within interlinked circular-cut diamond hoops.
The Tiara was among a series of jewels, which included Aquamarine Parure and Pearl Corsage, created by Cartier for Grand Duke Paul Alexandrovich of Russia for his morganatic wife Countess Hohenfelsen around the time their marriage was recognised by Tsar Nicholas II and their family returned to Russia, and was given the title of Princess Paley.
The Grand Duke and his wife were frequent clients at Cartier’s premises on the Rue de la Paix during their Parisian exile. They ordered, in addition to the jewels on offer here, a pair of opera-glasses, a magnificent diamond tiara and a diadem of Greek design.
Princess Paley was notably pictured wearing her Cartier Diamond Tiara as a devant-de-corsage at a Ball hosted by Madame Yrtub in Paris in 1912, placing the massive pear-shaped diamonds as pendants.
Princess Paley also wore her Cartier Pearl and Diamond Corsage as a head ornament along with other jewels from Grand Duchess Alexandra Georgievna and Empress Maria Alexandrovna for the Ball.
During the Russian Revolution, the Grand Duke and her son, Prince Vladimir Paley, were both executed by the Bolsheviks, though Princess Paley retained most of her Jewels (which she had sent away with a diplomat, though any heirlooms in the bank were seized) in exile in Paris in the 1920s. Unlike the Cartier Aquamarine Parure, the fate of the Diamond Drop Tiara is unknown, and it may have been among the jewels seized in Russia or could hav been sold in exile.
Cartier Diamond Tiara | Cartier Aquamarine Parure | Pearl Corsage
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