Modern Vintage jewelry by L

01/24/2023

Here's your tiara, in case you were looking for it.

Victorian Opal Tiara ~ set with fiery opal cabochons and old-mine cut diamonds, from the 1880s. The setting alternates with rows of fine opal cabochons that show a strong play of color and rows of bright old-mine cut diamonds (12 carats), in a shell like design. It can be detached from the comb and worn as a pendant.

11/09/2022

Who likes bows?

A Belle Epoque Négligé pendant necklace in 18K gold with 5 carats of diamonds, c1910 via Bijouterie Jean-Marc BOTTAZZI - Paris

10/23/2022

Sapphires and Diamonds! OH MY!

Art Deco bracelet, c. 1920

10/15/2022

Lovely, gold and turquoise.

Tiara and necklace by Chaumet,

Turquoise and gold, Paris, France, c. 1825

08/25/2022

Your tiara, in case you were looking for it.

Diamond Tiara (1895) by Faberge

03/23/2022

It's Tiara Tuesday!! The Russian Nuptial Tiara

It is not known who was the first wearer of this tiara since according to the Russian Diamond Fund it was made for Archduchess Marija Fëdorovna, second wife of Tsar Paul I of Russia, while other sources state that it was made for Empress Elisabeth Alexeievna , wife of Tsar Alexander I of Russia.
It was created around 1800 by jeweler Jacob David Duval, and the high kokoshnik design is centered on a spectacular natural pink diamond, a 13.33-carat stone from the treasury of Tsar Paul I of Russia.
This stone alone would be worth about $ 71,200,000, and was initially supported by a foil to enhance the pink color, but then removed.
In addition to this pink diamond, the tiara is made up of white diamonds from Brazil and India which would have a weight of over 1,000 carats.
This tiara is formed of a sliding base that surrounds the pink diamond, from which hang a multitude of briolette-cut diamonds, which dangle so that they can tremble and sparkle with every movement of the wearer. The tiara is topped with a row of large vertical pear-shaped diamonds.
Over the years this tiara became a jewel worn by generations of imperial brides.
Many of these jewels owned by the Russian Imperial Family were dismantled and then sold in single pieces, but this was sold entirely and purchased by Marjorie Merriweather Post and is now part of her collection at the Hillwood Museum.
And today this is owned by the Russian government and are now kept in the museum of the Diamond Fund in the Moscow Kremlin. via Royality_tiaras

01/04/2022

What say you?

The Cartier 'Persepolis' fringe necklace set to the front with two lines of alternately-set oval cabochon emeralds and oval-cut sapphires, the second line interspersed with rose-cut diamonds, suspending thirteen drops set with vari-cut emeralds, oval-cut sapphires, rose-cut diamonds and cultured pearls, to the similarly-set clasp and sapphire and emerald bead torsade necklace, together with a pair of 'Persane' earpendants, sold at Christie's for a mere 1,177,273.82 USD. From the private collection of Princess zu Leiningen

10/10/2021

For that little black dress....

Early 20th century diamond garland chain necklace with pierced panel motif, c.1905, to the front an articulated cartouche panel with inverted pear cluster to centre and foliate wings either side, below an inverted triangular cluster surmount, flanked by forget-me-not and foliate swags from a circle and bow-tie baton links, millegrain set throughout with rose cut, single cut, transition and pear brilliant cuts, mounted in platinum, upon a chain back, fitted case with stamp for retailer 'London & Ryder, 17 New Bond Street, London W'.
Length along diamond front section10cm / 4''
London & Ryder trading c.1861-1929. Described themselves as, 'many years principal assistants to C F Hancock', took over the premises and business of Thomas Hancock at 17 Bond Street and continued to trade there until c.1929 when they were taken over by Finnigans Ltd of 18 New Bond street. via SJ Philips

10/08/2021

I’ll take them all!

I love a making a decision...

Dimaond Art Deco bracelets available from Briony Raymond • New York

09/11/2021

A little blue...

Incredible Etched/Carved Sapphire and Diamond Pendant via tumblr

09/09/2021

It's Tiara Tuesday!! Grand Duchess Alice of Hesse's Strawberry Leaf Tiara

This tiara was commissioned in 1861 to the Garrard jewelers by Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha for Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom, in honor of the wedding of her second daughter, Princess Alice of the United Kingdom, to the Grand Duke Louis IV of Hesse. .
Unfortunately, Albert died before the wedding, and the tiara was given to Alice, who wore it to many events, including the wedding of her brother, King Edward VII of the United Kingdom with Princess Alexandra of Denmark in 1863.
Alice died of diphtheria in 1878, and the tiara was inherited by her son, Grand Duke Ernest Louis of Hesse and the Rhine, who gave it to his first wife, Princess Victoria Melita of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, who also wore it to the coronation of Tsar Nicholas II of Russia and Empress Alexandra Feodorovna of Russia in 1896.
Ernesto Luigi and Victoria Melita divorced in 1901, and the tiara in 1905 passed to his second wife, Princess Eleonora of Solms-Hohensolms-Lich.
However, in 1937, the entire Grand Ducal family, who were on their way to London for the wedding of Prince Louis of Hesse and the Rhine and Lady Margaret Campbell-Geddes, were killed after their plane crashed in Belgium, but fortunately the tiara was saved thanks to the safe, where she was kept.
Louis therefore became the new heir of the entire house of Hesse, also inheriting the tiara, which, however, was not often seen worn by his wife Margaret, except at the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom in 1953.
After Luigi's death in 1969, the family passed to his cousin, Prince Moritz, Landgrave of Hesse-Kessel, who inherited the tiara only in 1997, after Margaret's death, and currently the tiara is the foundation of the House of Hesse which manages the family's assets.

Belonging to the Family of the Grand Dukes of Hesse-Kessel. via Tiaras on IG

08/11/2021

I missed Tiara Tuesday yesterday! Sharing one of my all time favorites.

Empress Alexandra Feodorovna of Russia's Aquamarine Kokoshnik

This tiara was originally part of the Russian Imperial Family jewelry collection, produced in Germany around 1910, its creators were Koch's jewelers.
The tiara is packaged with small old-cut diamonds placed inside diamond arches, the latter resting on the upper part of the diamond frame that surrounds the 17 rectangular-cut aquamarines, set in a forged platinum and gold structure.
The exact belonging of this tiara is not known, but it is presumed that it came from the collection of Empress Alexandra Feodorovna of Russia, the last empress of Russia and wife of Tsar Nicholas II, who loved aquamarines and loved having them given to her even more. from her husband.
Unfortunately, however, there have been no portraits or images of Alexandra Feodorovna wearing the tiara and until 1980 the exact location was not even known since following the 1917 revolution, while many of the former imperial jewels were meticulously cataloged and photographed by the Soviets in preparation for public auction, this tiara was not among those.

There are many rumors, however, on this subject, some suggesting that it had become the property of the jeweler Wartski, specializing in Russian jewelry, who would have bought it about two years after the murder of the Romanovs.
Still others claimed that representatives of the Soviet government took it to Paris in a suitcase and sold it.
However, not knowing if these rumors are true or false, we have a "historical hole" of about 60 years, which goes from 1917 to 1980, when the tiara was seen and sold at auction at Sotheby's in Switzerland.
It was later sold privately by Christie's in 2014, and again in 2017.
Although then, the tiara has been in the shadows for quite a long time, today it has finally found a new home, being bought by the Albion Art Jewelery Institute, one of the largest private collections of historical jewelry in the world based in Tokyo.