Today marks the 135th Anniversary of the Birth of Queen Augusta Victoria of Portugal, nee Princess of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, who was born on this day in 1890. A German princess by birth and de jure Queen Consort of Portugal through her marriage to the exiled King Manuel II, we are featuring one of her most iconic jewels — her magnificent Cartier Ruby Choker!
Fleur-de-Lys Coronet | Lily of the Valley Tiara | Order of Christ Tiara | Cartier Ruby Choker
Ahead of the wedding of her son, King Manuel II, to Princess Augusta Victoria of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen in 1913, Queen Amélie commissioned Cartier to create a diamond and ruby choker necklace. To supply the gems, the Queen contributed with two pieces from her own jewellery collection: a necklace with thirteen rubies and diamonds given to her by her late husband in 1904, and a diamond rivière bracelet set with twenty-one stones, received as a wedding gift from the Duke of Aosta in 1886.
Cartier delivered an exquisite jewel featuring a repeating pattern of interlocking oval motifs forming a continuous, chain-like design. Each oval is outlined with diamonds and frames a cross-shaped arrangement of large round diamonds, with rubies set at the centre of each segment.
Queen Amélie’s gift was meant to complement the heraldic Diamond and Ruby Tiara that King Manuel commissioned from Leitão & Irmão, the Portuguese Crown Jewellers, for his bride.
‘Mimi,’ as Queen Augusta was affectionately known within the family, paired her Ruby Choker with a Diamond Fringe Tiara — a gift from the Portuguese monarchists in Brazil — for her first gala portraits as a married woman and de jure Queen.
In 1915, the Queen paired the Cartier Choker with her Ruby Tiara, designed as a graduated frieze of the Cross of the Portuguese Order of Christ, for a notable portrait painted by the renowned royal portraitist Philip de László
Photographs and portraits of Queen Augusta Victoria are rare, reflecting her discreet nature, despite the fact that she and King Manuel were frequent guests at the British Court and attended many gala occasions. This scarcity of visual records makes it difficult to determine the full extent of her jewellery collection, which was likely more extensive than the few pieces known today. After King Manuel’s death, the Queen returned to Germany, where she lived a quiet life and eventually remarried. The fate of her jewels remains a mystery — they may have been sold over time by her descendants, or perhaps are still preserved within the family
This article was written by assistant editor, David Rato, who runs the Spanish Royal Jewels account on Instagram!
Fleur-de-Lys Coronet | Lily of the Valley Tiara | Order of Christ Tiara | Cartier Ruby Choker
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