Diamond Tiaras I Don't Hate

I feel I've been pretty vocal with my disdain for plain old diamond tiaras. They're boring! Colored gemstones are so much prettier! But diamond is April's birthstone and in honor of the month I will admit to liking some diamond tiaras. Here are some that I don't hate.

Photo of a diamond tiara on a blond head. The tiara has flower and leaf elements set on a white metal frame.

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This is the Ahlefeldt-Laurvig-Bille Diamond Floral Tiara. Most likely made sometime in the late 1800s, it features old-cut diamonds set into floral elements. One source says that each element is "...mounted on subtle, flexible stems" which sounds to me like they might be en tremblant, or set on thin, flexible wires so they would dance and shimmer as the wearer moved. It must've been gorgeous in candlelight!

Photo of a tiara in its case. The case is lined with faded black velvet and the outside looks like red leather. The tiara has many different diamond flowers of various shapes as well as two ears of corn made of some gold material and possibly set with topazes. The frame of the tiara is copper colored.

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I've seen lots of tiaras with stalks of wheat (or oats) but this is the first one I've seen with ears of corn! The auction site describes this tiara as an "EXCEPTIONAL ANTIQUE DIAMOND TIARA composed of numerous flowers, buds, leaves in old-cut brilliants and ears of corn in yellow gold, with seven marquise-cut diamonds mounted in laminated bezels on the back, early 19th century".

Christie's goes on to describe a document that was shown to them by the seller (and which they report merely as a "historical curiosity") which stated:

Tiara with a group of natural flowers and gold ears with (topazes?) which is divided into two pieces so as to be "able to be used by Bandò and Boché" made in 1826 by the jeweler Tommaso Zamparo commissioned by ND Co.ssa Marina Donà-Grimani on the occasion of the planned marriage of his son NHCo. Marco Antonio with NDCo.ssa Caterina Manin.

I think it's neat when these antique tiaras come with historical info like that!

Diamond and pearl tiara with floral motifs set in gold and silver.

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I think the auction site might be pushing it to call this piece a tiara but it's pretty, can be worn in the hair and it's convertible, which I always find super exciting in a jewelry piece. Made circa 1880, it is set with rose- and circular-cut diamonds in various shapes, pearls and mounted in gold and silver.

Side by side photos showing 2 ways to wear the tiara. On the left it is on a thin gold band and the tiara is to one side of the head and being worn almost like a headband. On the right, the model's hair is pulled back and the tiara is nestled in the hair and being used almost as a barrette.

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You can see from the left-hand picture that calling this a tiara is a little bit pretentious but boy, do I ever like the picture on the right where it's nestled in the pulled back hair like some fancy barrette!

3 side by side photos of the tiara elements converted into brooches. The left and middle sections each make a floral spray while the largest flower detaches from its spray and can be worn alone.

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And here are pictures of the tiara converted into brooches. You even have the option of removing the largest flower from its spray and wearing it solo.

Photo of Queen Elizabeth II's Girls of Great Britain and Ireland tiara. It is slightly tipped up so you can see clearly not only the gray velvet wrapped frame bottom but also the elastic in the very back that would have helped keep it on the Queen's head.

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"Oh, wait!," you're saying. "It looks so familiar! Is it..." Yes, this is indeed Queen Elizabeth II's Girls of Great Britain and Ireland Tiara. The one that shows up on all the stamps, coins and official portraits. I do really like this one - it looks like a proper princess tiara. I probably could have found a slightly better photo but I liked how this one showed the elastic in the back that helped keep it on her head. One thing that I don't think people know about it is that it is also convertible! It can be worn as a necklace or can be ... what's the opposite of embiggen, emsmallen? ... emsmallened or converted to coronet-size.

I don't know if it's just because I'm American and don't know any better or if it's because she wore it for over half a century but I think of this as being her tiara and no one else's. But it predates her! This tiara was originally given to Princess Mary of Teck (later Queen Mary) as a wedding present.

A committee of women from across Great Britain and Ireland (hence, the name of the tiara) held a fundraising campaign to raise the funds for the tiara. Advertisements were placed in newspapers all over the country inviting local girls to donate any sum "...from ‘One Penny upwards’." £5050 (the equivalent today of £842,327.53 according to this site) was raised with £4600 going towards the tiara (which Princess Mary chose herself), £50 going to the production of a book with all the subscriber's names and the remaining £400 was donated to a fund supporting the families of those killed in the HMS Victoria disaster.

I don't know how I feel about this because aristocratic women were asking the regular people to chip in for this tiara. I mean, I know "aristocratic" not only doesn't necessarily mean wealthy but can often mean the exact opposite but do you really want to hit up the common (and most likely poor) folk for this? Even at just a penny a person?

Anyway, Mary was famous for tinkering with her jewels. The tiara originally had 9 large pearls set on the spikes. She had those removed and replaced with diamonds. She also had the base removed from the main part so it could be worn separately. I'll put a link in the rabbit hole to an article that shows the tiara in all its many forms.

Elizabeth was given the tiara as a wedding present and she wore it often. I've read that might have partially been because it was light and therefore comfortable to wear. The only tinkering she did with it was to have the base put back on.

Photo of the Poltimore Tiara. Diamond floral elements, clusters and scrolls are set in gold and silver. The base of the tiara is wrapped in brown velvet.

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Next up is the Poltimore Tiara, Princess Margaret's wedding tiara. Apparently she caused some talk by wearing the tiara before her wedding but, hey, I would have, too! Created around 1870 by Garrard for the Baroness Poltimore (hence the name) it's made of cushion-shaped and old-cut diamond floral elements, clusters and scrolls and mounted in silver and gold. It can be worn as pictured, brought in tighter (which I believe is how it was when she wore it in the famous bathtub picture), worn as a necklace or it can be taken apart into 11 separate brooches. If you go to this Christie's auction page, you can see it in all its forms.

Photo of the Poltimore Tiara in a more closed configuration.

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She bought the tiara for £5,500 in 1959. By that time the British pound had lost quite a lot of value and today that would have been the equivalent to £166,111.12. After she passed away in 2002, her children sold the tiara at auction. The auction price was only estimated to be £150,000 – £200,000 but it ended up selling for £926,400. It was bought privately and has not been seen in public since.

Close up photo of Princess Anne's Festoon Tiara. You can see it sitting on her head but her face is not visible. The tiara is made of diamonds set in platinum in a festoon or swag design. It has 3 main diamond swags suspended between upright diamond motifs.

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The last diamond tiara that I will admit to liking (today, at least) is Princess Anne's Diamond Festoon Tiara. Once again, I just feel that this has a proper princess look to it. It's so light and airy and just darn pretty! It has brilliant- round- and cushion-cut diamonds set in platinum and features swag or festoon elements. It is unknown when it was made but Anne was given the tiara in 1973 by the World Wide Shipping Group when she launched their tanker, the "World Unicorn."

So there you go! A selection of diamond tiaras that, while not especially colorful or extra (well, except for that 2nd one), are ones that I actually like.

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