History of the most beautiful tiaras of the Romanovs. PART 2

Hello, dear jewelry connoisseurs. Today I will continue to tell the fascinating stories of Russian imperial tiaras, as you asked for. If you like this video, give it a like. Let's begin. The next impressive piece of jewelry art is the pearl tiara. It is often called Russian beauty, although this name is not quite accurate. Yes, the Russian beauty does exist, but, like the Russian field, it is just a replica, magnificently recreated by masters V. Nikolaev and G. Alexikin in 1987. However, their inspiration was real. It was a diamond tiara with pearl pendants commissioned by Emperor Nicholas I for his wife Alexandra Feodorova. The author of this precious masterpiece, which involuntarily reminds one of the Cambridge knots of love, was the court jeweler Karl Bolin. The history of this jewelry is fascinating. Bolin's pearl tiara can be considered a kind of symbol of the then fashion for everything Russian and deliberately national, literally imposed on the capital's fashionistas from above. The shape of the tiara resembled a typical kokoshnik, and its most recognizable element was a slender row of 25 large natural pearls selected by Bolin from the, unnecessary, crown jewels, in Russian beauty we already see artificial pearls. This jewelry immediately became one of the most important, but its splendor was so great that the penultimate Russian empress, Maria Feodorovna, wife of Alexander III, even kept it in her chambers. Art historian Lilia Kuznetsova notes that in the early 20th century, the House of Cartier used this tiara as inspiration, creating its own pearl and diamond kokoshnik, which became world famous. In 1919, Maria Feodorova fled Russia, taking only her everyday jewelry with her. The most valuable ones, including Bolin's tiara, were confiscated by the Bolsheviks and sold at auctions. For example, the pearl tiara was sold at a Christie's auction in 1927. It is believed that Holmes and company bought the jewelry and then sold it to the 9th Duke of Marlborough, Winston Churchill's cousin, who purchased the Russian tiara for his second wife, Gladys Mary Deacon. However, the decoration did not stay in Britain for long, in the late 1970s it was again put up for auction, and this time its owner was Imelda Marcos, First Lady of the Philippines. It is believed that Imelda had no idea of the incredible story behind the piece. Some even believed that the First Lady dismantled the tiara. However, today it is known that the kokoshnik is intact and is in the central bank of the Philippines, waiting, as they say, for the next auction. Will the prototype of the Russian beauties ever return to Russia? Now about the Vladimir Tiara. This story is also eventful and includes a tiara named Vladimir Skaya. Today its owner is British Queen Elizabeth II, who received this valuable piece of jewelry from her grandmother, Queen Mary of Teck, a passionate jewelry lover. So how did this Russian tiara come to England? This magnificent piece of jewelry, consisting of 15 diamond rings, in the center of each of which hangs a massive pear-shaped pearl, was created by the Bolin Workshop in 1874 by order of Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich, son of Emperor Alexander II, for his bride Maria Pavlovna as a wedding present. This is how it got its name, the Vladimir Tiara. Maria Pavlovna was a passionate admirer of jewelry and her court was known for its wealth, which allegedly caused Empress Alexandra Feodorova concern. When the revolution came, the Grand Duchess already had an extensive collection of family jewelry, much of which was kept in her main residence, the Vladimir Palace. However, when the revolution came, Maria Pavlovna was unwilling to share her treasures with the Bolsheviks. Thanks to the Grand Duchess's court connections, she received help from her close friend, the antiquarian and diplomat Albert Stopford, who was rumored to be secretly serving in British intelligence. Stopford infiltrated the princess's chambers in the Vladimir Palace and smuggled most of her jewelry, including her diamond tiara, from Saint Petersburg to London. After Maria Pavlovna's death, her jewelry passed to her daughters. The tiara went to her youngest daughter, Elena, who was already the consort of Prince Nicholas of Greece. Helena's daughter, Princess Marina, later married Duke George of Kent, grandson of Queen Mary of Teck, and thus became part of the famous Windsor dynasty. The British monarch will love the new tiara wholeheartedly, despite her considerable jewelry collection. After purchasing it, she will bring it to the Gerrard & Company workshop, where the pearls will be made removable and alternatively drop-shaped emeralds, the so-called Cambridge Stones, will be chosen. After the death of Mary of Teck, the tiara will go to her granddaughter, Queen Elizabeth II, who still wears it with pearls, emeralds, and even empty. Next, we will move on to the equally beautiful but less known. The Sapphire Tiara, which belonged to Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna, like the Vladimir Tiara, is a fascinating and eventful part of history. Thanks to her friendship with an English diplomat, the Grand Duchess managed to save her jewelry from the hands of the revolution, including a massive kukoshnik studied with diamonds and set with sapphires, a family piece of jewelry that came into the possession of the Grand Dukes from the collection of Alexandra Fyodorova, the wife of Nicholas I. There is a version according to which this kukoshnik is a remodeled version of Her Majesty's Diadem presented by the Emperor in Honor, of their accession to the throne in 1825, although others claim that it contains only sapphires from the Empress's collection. In the late 1900s, this kukoshnik was remade or recreated at the Cartier Jewelry Workshop, becoming part of a luxury jewelry set including earrings, necklace, and brooch. Avoiding the wrath of the revolution, Albert Stopford once again played a crucial role in rescuing this precious tiara from the Grand Duchess' boudoir. However, while the Vladimir Tiara would eventually go to the Queen of Great Britain, the sapphire kukoshnik would find its new owner, the Romanian Queen. During the First World War, when the Romanian royal family sent their jewelry to the Kremlin for safekeeping, including the sapphire tiara, Queen Maria's connection to the Romanovs became clear. However, after the revolution, the new government confiscated the royal jewelry and Maria lost almost all of her jewelry, including the ancient family tiaras. Maria Pavlovna and Maria Maria's family probably decided to take advantage of the idea of a mutually beneficial exchange, where the former needed the family treasures and the latter needed money. Thus, the sapphire kukoshnik became the property of the Romanian royal family. Queen Maria preferred not to part with the tiara, giving it to her youngest daughter Ileana in honor of her wedding. The jewelry remained in the royal family until the Romanians sensed the approach of war and political changes. This time it was decided to send the jewelry to the UK for preservation. After the end of World War II, the monarchy in Romania was effectively living out its last days. The royal family was driven out of the country. Princess Ileana traveled with her mother's tiara to the USA, where she sold it to an unknown buyer in 1950. Its fate since then is unknown. Write a nice comment if you liked the video and want to see the third part of these probable jewels. Also, as our tradition, write in the comments which tiara you liked the most. Subscribe to the channel, put likes and I'll say goodbye to you. All the best to you. Also, don't forget to write about the jewelry you'd like to see in our video.