Citrine and/or Topaz Tiaras

Tiara perched in blonde updo hairstyle. Gold tiara with large oval orange gemstones, either citrine or topaz, interspersed with seed pearl dividers. Each divider is made of a piece arching up and a piece arching down.

I'm not a particular fan of citrines (or topazes masquerading as citrines) but for some reason I really love this rather simple tiara. This is the Citrine and Pearl Bandeau Tiara from Luxembourg. There isn't a whole lot of information on it - no one seems to know when it was made or by whom. It's not even certain if these are citrines or topazes. It was first seen around 60 years ago, during Grand Duchess Josephine-Charlotte's reign.

Left: Gold, citrine and seed pearl necklace. The chain is a thick twisted gold rope. There are 3 necklace pendants or slides, each one an oval citrine with the center one being slightly larger. The bale (or loop) is a single row of seed pearls. Right: One of the earrings from the parure features a large round gem circled with seed pearls with a large citrine drop.

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The tiara is part of a demi-parure, which also includes a necklace and earrings.

While citrines (or this shade of topaz) are an unusual stone choice for a tiara, it's not unknown! There have been others and you know I'm going to show them to you.

Art Deco tiara featuring a large octagonal central surrounded by round and baguette diamonds. The band is set with baguette-cut citrines all the way around.

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This Art Deco lovely is also a favorite! It's so SPIKY. Made in 1937 by Cartier, it's set in yellow gold and platinum. The central piece, which is a honking huge 62 carats, can be detached and worn as a brooch. I think convertible jewelry is so cool.

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This is from a closed auction and there are frustratingly few details. It sold in 2015 for an undisclosed amount and is listed as "A Tiara, of openwork leaf scroll design with claw set citrine highlights." I like how the spikes around the large central stone look like sun rays. The smaller stones are much darker which makes me wonder if this might have both citrines and topazes.

Ears of wheat style tiara with two rows of wheat stalks set in gilt metal. Stalks of wheat are set with yellow paste stones that look like citrines.

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I think my 2 least favorite tiara types are fringe and ears of wheat because they are so freaking boring. But I do kind of like this one. I'm pretty sure this is the only ears of wheat tiara I've seen set with colored stones. It's also kind of a ringer in the tiara lineup because, according to the very little info I've been able to find (one blog post from 2011), these aren't citrines or topazes but yellow paste gems. Still, it's a neat iteration of an ears of wheat style and they look like they could be citrines so in the line up it goes! The rest of the sparse information from the blog site states this is

"A wreath composed of ears of wheat in gilt metal set with yellow pastes. Ears of wheat were a popular subject for gold wreaths in Ancient Greece, and this charming example probably derives from a prototype of that period. English, c. 1830. (Private Collection. Photograph Wartski)

Silver tiara with a large oval citrine and blue enamel wings.

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This wonderful Art Nouveau tiara is made from silver with engraving on the wings to mimic feathers. The wings are covered in a translucent blue enamel. It was made in 1900 and plays up to the Egyptian Revival style that was en vogue at that time. Apparently winged tiaras were quite popular to wear to the opera! (Source: one lone blog post, listed below in the rabbit hole links)

Silver tiara set with topazes. Three large silver bows of interwoven ribbons are set atop a simple semi-circular base. The silver is set with Imperial topaz gemstones backed with foil to increase their shine. The hues of the stones range from a vivid orange-red to a more delicate rose shade.

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I don't know why royal collections are so cagey as to whether or not their jewelry is set with citrines or topazes but this gorgeous tiara is definitely set with topaz. This silver tiara was created in Portugal in 1780 and is set with 148 topazes of varying shades. There's a lot of cool info on the site this picture came from so do go check that out. The picture comes from an auction site and someone bought this AND I AM SO JEALOUS. I hope they're wearing it every chance they get because I sure as heck would be. I know at the beginning I said I wasn't a huge fan of citrine/topaz but look at this! It's got a proper princess tiara profile and I love it.

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OK, I have one last picture of citrine loveliness for you all. This is a complete parure from about 1830 and, according to the auction site, consists of: necklace, tiara, pair of bracelets, earrings, a slide, brooch and girandole pendant brooch. Plus the red leather case. I wonder how heavy it would be to wear the entire parure? I wish there were more pictures of each piece because they are so opulently gorgeous! This sold in 2018 and, just to show you how unreliable auction estimates are, the preauction estimate was between 7,000-9,000 GBP and it ended up selling for 55,000 GBP! Someone really wanted this and I totally don't blame them.

image of a white rabbit popping out of his rabbit hole, looking around, and going back in. His rabbit hole is surrounded by grass and some carrots in the ground.

Citrine and Pearl Tiara - If you are as in love with the Luxembourg Citrine and Pearl Tiara as I am and also have a ridiculous amount of money burning a hole in your pocket, then this knockoff tiara is available! This is gold-plated sterling but other than that it looks pretty much the same!
Child & Child Jewelers - information on Child & Child Jewelers and some other examples of their works.
Child & Child Tiara and Comb - Nice blog post about the blue enamel tiara and some of the artistic thoughts of the time.
Citrine vs Topaz - What's the Difference?

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