The Court Jeweller

Sparkling Royal Jewels From Around the World

Bejeweled Close-Ups: The Henckel von Donnersmarck Tiara

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May’s birthstone is the gorgeous, grassy green emerald. Today we’re taking a closer look — literally! — at one of the most valuable emerald tiaras every created: the Henckel von Donnersmarck Tiara.

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The tiara features a series of eleven large cabochon emeralds set atop a base of diamonds set in silver and gold
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The glossy pear-shaped emeralds, which come from Colombia, are drilled and set in diamond cusps. Lot notes from Sotheby’s posit that the emeralds resided in India at some point, and that’s where they were drilled for use in royal jewels
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Per Henckel von Donnersmarck family tradition, the emeralds were at one part of the French crown jewels, possibly part of Empress Eugenie’s own personal collection
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The remarkable emeralds can be detached from the tiara’s base for use in other configurations; this close-up shows where the diamond cusps are attached to the base. The base features diamonds in millegrain setting; the cusps do not
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The tiara boasts approximately 500 carats’ worth of emeralds
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Here’s a closer look at the base, which features laurel and festoon motifs
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The millegrain design of the base (the little “dots” in the metal that help enhance the sparkle of the diamonds) is especially evident in this photograph. Also note that the lily-of-the-valley (or “muguet”) motifs set between the large cushion-cut diamonds; like emeralds, this flower is associated with May. Centuries ago, French kings offered sprigs of lily-of-the-valley to the ladies at court on the first day of May
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The size of the magnificent cushion cut emeralds is emphasized in this view of the tiara
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The maker of the tiara is unknown, though Sotheby’s has suggested that Chaumet may have been responsible, given other commissions from the Henckel von Donnersmarck family. The tiara was constructed around 1900 for Katharina, the wife of Guido Henckel von Donnersmarck, one of the richest men in Germany at the time
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In 2011, the diadem became one of the most expensive tiaras ever sold, fetching a whopping $12.7 million at Sotheby’s from a private buyer. You can read more about the tiara’s history here!

Bejeweled Close-Ups: Queen Sofia’s Tiara

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Some tiaras inspire very specific reactions — either you love them, or you hate them. Queen Sofia’s Tiara, aka the “Nine-Prong Tiara,” is definitely one of those sparklers. Whether you can’t stand its spiky profile or love it for its exuberant, unusual style, close-ups of the tiara show that its was constructed in a way that sets it apart from other jewels.

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As the tiara’s name suggests, it was made for Queen Sofia of Sweden and Norway (born Princess Sophia of Nassau) around 1860. It has been in Sweden’s royal vaults ever since, and its subsequent wearers included Queen Louise, Princess Lilian, and Princess Birgitta. Today, the tiara is worn almost exclusively by Queen Silvia, who dons it every other year for the annual Nobel Prize ceremony and banquet in Stockholm. You can read a more complete history of the tiara over here!
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The tiara features a combination of sharp and soft design elements. Diamond scrolls curl around large diamonds along the tiara’s base, culminating in the center in an explosion of sunburst-like rays.
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Here’s a closer look at the central element of the tiara, including the bright, collet-set diamond that sits near the wearer’s head. The combination of the scrolls and sunburst almost make the tiara resemble a sunrise hovering over the sea — not a bad choice for a queen that lives in Stockholm, a city dominated by waterways.
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This sunrise-and-sea design is surmounted by a series of diamond swags or festoons, each of which is topped by a collet set diamond. Each of these large diamonds (which appear to be cushion-cut stones) has three smaller diamonds radiating outward, creating the “prong” designs that are the tiara’s visual signature to so many.
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The collets with their radiant brilliants almost look like stars when viewed from certain angles. Perhaps, then, we have the curtain of night drawing back from the dawn, completing the sunrise visual of this sparkler? 

Bejeweled Close-Ups: The Greville Tiara

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Way back in the days of Mad Hattery, I nicknamed this glittering sparkler “The Mighty Bouch.” It’s easy to see why — the sparkle from this thing packs quite the punch! Most of us used to call it “the Boucheron Honeycomb Tiara,” but in 2012, we learned that the royal family simply calls it “the Greville Tiara.” Either way, it’s impressive — and even more so when you view it close up!

The Queen Mother wears the Greville Tiara with the Greville Peardrop Earrings and Queen Alexandra’s Wedding Necklace in November 1964; eagle-eyed readers will spot Princess Marina standing behind her, wearing her Russian Pearl Bandeau (Michael Stroud/Express/Getty Images)

The Queen Mother received the tiara in 1942 when the Hon. Mrs. Greville bequeathed her all of her jewelry. The diamond and platinum tiara was made for Mrs. Greville in 1921 by Lucien Hirtz, the chief designer for Boucheron in Paris. Clever Mrs. Greville saved money on the new diadem by having another, older Boucheron tiara from her collection broken up so that the diamonds could be reused in the creation of this more modern tiara. The tiara became one of the Queen Mother’s favorite jewels; she wore it throughout her life, and eventually bequeathed it to her daughter, the Queen, in 2002. The Queen has never worn this tiara in public.

The Duchess of Cornwall wears the Greville Tiara with her diamond floral and pearl drop earrings, plus one of her pearl chokers with a diamond clasp, at the State Opening of Parliament in May 2016 (Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)

When the Duchess of Cornwall married the Prince of Wales in 2005, the Queen loaned her the Greville on a long-term basis. It’s now become her signature tiara, and her many appearances in the sparkler have given us some excellent close-up views of the piece.

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This view of the center portion of the tiara emphasizes the honeycomb design of the tiara itself, as well as the round diamonds set within the honeycomb sections. The millegrain treatment (that’s the little “dots” on the metal) on the platinum setting makes the stones appear even sparkler. And I’m always in awe of the pave-set diamonds in the honeycomb portion — it’s done so well that, even in extreme close-up, it’s sometimes difficult to pick out the individual diamonds.

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When the Queen Mum received the tiara in 1942, the top of the piece was much flatter. Rather than the raised sections you see today, rows of five graduated diamonds were situated between the honeycombs at the top of the tiara, giving the piece a more kokoshnik-like shape. Some of these original diamond settings survive on each side of the tiara today, as you can see at the left in the image above.

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In 1953, the Queen Mother turned to Cartier to reconfigure five diamond sections at the center of the top of the tiara. They shifted the original diamonds (which you can identify thanks to their millegrain settings) from a graduated line to a more triangular shape. Five diamonds were also added to the tiara: four round brilliants, which were taken from a dismantled brooch, and a single marquise diamond at the tiara’s apex.

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Here’s a close-up look of the marquise in the center of the tiara. See the difference in the settings? Cartier didn’t replicate Boucheron’s original millegrain technique in their work. The additions and changes, though relatively subtle, definitely impacted the profile of the tiara, adding height and taking away that curved, kokoshnik shape.

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To accomplish the curving shape of the diadem, you’ll note that there are breaks in some of the hexagonal honeycomb elements, allowing the tiara a slight articulation so that it can curve around the tiara frame.

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And here’s a look at the base of the tiara; the thin wire base is currently padded with blonde-colored velvet to match the Duchess of Cornwall’s head. Photographs of the piece from Sir Hugh Roberts’s book show the base of the tiara without the velvet wrapping. (It’s on page 241, for those who want to check their jewelry libraries!)