Haute joaillerie tiaras by Lydia Courteille

Tiara with 2 snakes on either side and a large green triangular peridot in the middle. The snakes are covered in brown diamonds, yellow sapphires and tsavorite garnets. Their bodies are sinuous and the heads meet on either side of the top of the peridot.

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Haute joaillerie or high jewelry is a term used to describe the haute couture of jewels. Lydia Courteille is a French jewelry designer who has been creating the most amazing collections since the late 1990s. She's inspired by a lot of things - her travels around the world, history, nature, myths, architecture. Several of her collections feature TIARAS. I kept coming across them as I was researching unusual vintage and antique tiaras and finally I thought well, heck, I'm just going to do a post about her tiaras! They are really just totally amazeballs.

This first tiara, the snake one, is the one that I see pop up most often in my searches. He is part of her Queen of Sheba collection which Lydia said was inspired by both the biblical figure and Ethiopia. That huge green stone is a peridot and our snek-friends are bedazzled with brown diamonds, yellow sapphires and tsavorite garnets.

Black rhodium tiara set with large central Welo opal. There are branches of leaves and flowers set with sapphires, rubies, spinels and tsavorite garnets.

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This tiara, from her Topkapi collection, is another one that I come across in my searches. The collection is an homage to the 16th century Ottoman empire and is named after the Istanbul palace once occupied by Sultan Suleiman and Roxelena. The central stone is a Welo opal and the branches of leaves and flowers are studded with sapphires, rubies, spinels and tsavorite garnets, all set in black rhodium.

If you go to the source for the Topkapi Tiara, you'll see it's a sale listing and under Occasion it lists Bridal, Just Because, Wedding. I wish I had "just because" tiara buying wealth! Instead I have "if you have to ask, it's too much" non-wealth. At least drooling over these tiaras is free!

Gold tiara with a wavy shape at either end and meeting in an open oval in the middle. The central stone is a large blue Australian boulder opal and there are 2 smaller boulder opals on either side. The tiara is studded with topazolites, hessonites, yellow sapphires, blue sapphires, black sapphires and diamonds. There is a very small jeweled dung beetle on the right side.

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This next lovely piece is from her Sahara collection which is:

Inspired by the arid plateau UNESCO world heritage site of Tassili in Algeria

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Captures the sun-scorched colours of the landscape, the star-filled night sky, the indigo-blue clothing of the Touareg people and the russet hues of the rock paintings

The tiara is 18 karat gold, the blue stones are Australian boulder opals and the rest of the stones are topazolites, hessonites, yellow sapphires, blue sapphires, black sapphires and diamonds. I'm not sure how well you can see it but look to the bottom right - there's a little dung beetle friend!

Tiara that looks like a wavy ribbon with multicolored stripes with a large, pale blue stone in the middle. The stripes are made from colored gemstones in green, purple, yellow, red, white, blue and dark pink.

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The Nuevo Mundo collection was inspired by the Mayan world. According to the article linked below, the tiara was based on the crowns and ribbons Mayan women used to gather up their hair. It is 19 karat gold, the ribbon is set with brown and white diamonds, rubies, sapphires, amethysts and tourmalines. The huge blue stone in the middle is a Maxixe beryl, a cousin to the emerald and aquamarine.

Tiara made of black gold featuring famous buildings in Paris including the Eiffel Tower, the Moulin Rouge and the Sacre-Coeur. The buildings are studded with black diamonds and rubies.

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I can't find any information on whether this next tiara was in any particular collection or if it was a piece on its own. This is called the Paris Tiara and features famous landmarks including the Sacre-Coeur, the Moulin Rouge and the Eiffel Tower. The tiara is made from 18 karat black gold and the buildings are studded with black diamonds and rubies.

Tiara made of blue titanium plated gold and silver that looks like a spider web. It is decorated with yellow sapphires, sapphires, rubies and aquamarines.

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This last tiara also has a French theme - it's a tiara from the Marie Antoinette collection. Blue was said to be Marie Antoinette's favorite color but why the spider web theme? Lydia said she was inspired by an imaginary creature she dreamed might have followed the Queen into her jail cell. The blue titanium-plated silver and gold tiara is set with sapphires, rubies and aquamarines. If you go to the source of the tiara pic, there's also a nice side view of the tiara.

I hope you've enjoyed this look at some really neat tiaras. You should definitely take a look at Lydia's other jewelry - it's so colorful and fun! I'm going to leave you with one last picture, but not of a tiara. This is another piece from the Sahara collection, a ring featuring a little dung beetle just doing his thing with his huge ball of dung (made from azurite). Such a cool little ring! I would totally wear this. He's €20,800 so I will only be wearing it in my dreams!

Golden ring featuring a dung beetle pushing a ball of dung which is actually azurite. The ring is studded with haüynites, topazolites, hessonites, white diamonds and brown diamonds.

source 18 karat gold ring with azurite, haüynites, topazolites, hessonites, white diamonds and brown diamonds

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.

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