The Beading Gem

The Historic Royal Palaces celebrated the 200th anniversary of Queen Victoria's birth earlier this year by releasing this amazing video which shows the spectacular diamond Kokoshnik Tiara being transformed into a necklace.

This fringe tiara, also known as Queen Alexandra's Fringe Tiara, was commissioned for her 25th wedding anniversary in 1888.  Queen Alexandra, then the Princess of Wales, was the consort of Queen Victoria's eldest son, the future King Edward VII.

Image by Susan Elliott

I've featured miniature beaded jewelry before for Barbie dolls (see link below).

But Susan Elliott's amazing embroidered and bejeweled picture is different. It's her homage to the film, Breakfast at Tiffany's, starring Audrey Hepburn.

The two royal brides this year both have impeccable taste but neither wore necklaces to their weddings.

But the newly minted Princess Charlene of Monaco  has a spectacular ocean inspired necklace and tiara commissioned for the occasion.

Both the Van Cleef and Arpels diamond and sapphire Ocean Spray necklace and the Lorenz Baumer Diamond Spray tiara designs were clearly influenced by Princess Charlene's love of the sea.  Not surprising as she is a former Olympic swimmer. Her preference for contemporary styles is also evident especially for the asymmetrical tiara.

Tiaras are by far the most glorious head pieces for brides. But not all brides are into the princess look. I especially loved British artisan and instructor, Angela Smith's alternative to a tiara - this lovely bead and Swarovski crystal fascinator. It's such a unique design for special occasions.

Many artisans make tiaras. In fact, so many do such beautiful creations, it was hard to pick. So I chose based on historical time periods and iconic styles which were clearly the inspirations behind these designs.

Renaissance
This drop dead gorgeous piece with sterling silver, rock crystal and Swarovski crystals is actually called the Renaissance Tiara. It's deliberately designed such that it can be worn as a tiara or inverted and worn as a circlet. The artisan is Annick Ebersole of Anique Designs on Etsy who finds her inspiration in Renaissance and Victorian designs.

I'm a sucker for historical biopics as most of you already suspect. For anglophiles like me, a wonderful treat is at hand - a new historical and romantic biopic, the Young Queen Victoria currently in limited release in North America.

Watch the trailer and see a little of why Debbie (my friend and co-instructor) and I enjoyed the movie - authentic sets including Westminster Abbey, jewelry, period costumes and excellent acting. BTW, the Duchess of York was a producer. Princess Beatrice had a small role as one of the ladies in the coronation procession early in the film.

A remarkable exhibition of Afghanistan's Hidden Treasures from the National Museum in Kabul has been touring for the past few years. The exhibition is now at the Canadian Museum of Civilisation in Ottawa until March 28, 2010. The introductory National Geographic trailer here is well worth the view as it puts into context the significance of these archaeological finds. The cultural history of a people is indeed the very soul of a nation.

Mary Victoria Leiter (1870-1906) later Baroness Curzon of Kedleston, was an American heiress (see my past post on Jewels for the Dollar Princesses) whose father was a partner in the Marshall Fields retail empire. Her privileged life was filled with glittering jewels but her story shows the one thing all the wealth in the world could not buy, and that was her health.

What I did on my summer vacation
Part 3 of 3
The multi-million dollar William and Judith Bollinger Jewelry Gallery of the Victoria of Albert Museum is a wonderful way to appreciate and be inspired by 800 years of mostly European history of jewelry design. The gallery is beautiful and had to be to really showcase the jewelry. I thought the glass spiral staircase going up to the second floor was neat, as it did seem to be a crystal walkway.

Some of their past exhibitions featured special jewelry from their collection and others. One spectacular one was on the Style and Splendour of Queen Maud. She was a granddaughter of Queen Victoria who became the Queen Consort of Norway and a well known fashionista of her day. Shown above is her choker style pearl and diamond necklace on the mannequin bearing her coronation robes. That style of necklace was popular during her time as you can see from an old photo of her below. (Aren't you glad we don't have to wear corsets anymore?)

Another of their past exhibitions was just on tiaras - 200 of them in the largest collection ever put together.

The famous Manchester tiara was on permanent display so I got to see it. If you remember the bejewelled biography series post I wrote about the American Dollar Princesses and their jewels, the Dukes of Manchester were wastrels. No wonder this tiara (below) was given to the British government in lieu of back taxes. Even the aristocracy used fake gems - the "diamonds" at the back of the tiara were paste (glass).