The Triumph of the Tiara
In honour of the coronation and our wonderful late 19th century diamond tiara, some thoughts on the history of the tiara and tips on how to wear them.
There was some (in some cases rather intemperate) debate about the wearing of tairas at the coronation. To some it seems absurd that they were not be expected to be worn on such an important occasion. They were certainly in evidence everywhere in 1953 and it is reasonable to point out that, if they aren’t going to be worn at a coronation, supposedly the very grandest of state occasions, then where else could they ever be considered appropriate. However, it must be born in mind that the majority of those still in the hands of their original purchasers (and the majority of those traded by dealers such as us) are products of an age much more comfortable with conspicuous consumption than we are now. The great explosion of tiara manufacture and wearing in this country came just after the discovery of diamonds in South Africa in the 1860s and lasted up to the First World War. There is a tendency to assume, based on a current understanding of the ‘quiet’ dignity of the aristocracy that the society that produced these pieces will have been staid and restrained in its self-presentation but of course the absolute opposite is true. One only needs to look at photographs of, say Queen Alexandra or Queen Mary, bound and weighed down by stacks of pearls and diamond rivières, and all topped with one of any number of large new coronets they had commissioned by the crown jewellers of the day, to realise that, to modern observers, a Victorian or Edwardian court occasion would have seemed unspeakably gaudy.
Indeed, this is not relevant, but Queen Mary’s obsession with jewels and objects of virtu, particularly other people’s, was notorious. She was dreaded as a guest as she had a nasty habit of very pointedly telling her hosts how fond she was of this little snuff box or that little brooch and, when this tactic failed, it was rumoured that things had a curious habit of finding their way into her luggage by mistake. She almost drove one Edinburgh jeweller out of business by taking pieces ‘on approval’ and ignoring their bills. So much so that they were reduced to keeping an eye on the court circular to see when she was travelling North and then having the entire shop front dressed up as a florist’s.
How To Wear a Tiara
Given the huge variety of styles and shapes of head ornament that exist, from tiny aigrettes (like a single brooch, or sometimes even just a single stone, worn high on the front of the head and often originally designed to be worn with a plume, possibly of ostrich feathers, behind), to full circlets and tall, imposing ‘Kokoshniks’, there are no simple rules about how they are to be worn and, indeed, many are specifically designed to be as flexible as possible. Some with detachable sections of fittings, others opening up to allow their wear as a bandeau across the forehead or to be closed around a chignon bun. However, it is always worth having the perishable parts replaced. elastic that has set in a damp safe for a generation since the piece’s last outing is probably not to be trusted on a wedding day and it is very easy to replace the coloured silk that often covers a headband to match one’s hair colour.
The other thing to be conscious of is hairspray. Wedding hairdressers seem to work on commission for Elnett and we have yet to be presented with a tiara for sale from a private source that hasn’t been coated in the stuff. Once to the extent that we became convinced it was set with paste, rather than diamonds, and had, rather embarrassingly to backtrack once it had been set about with a toothbrush and some warm washing up liquid. If possible, spray before the tiara goes on.
We are always happy to help with our advice, as well as cleaning, restoring and even re-silking a tiara - do just get in touch. We can also have bespoke cases made for those that need them for safe keeping.
