Jewelry of Catherine the Great - the pride of the treasury of the Imperial House of Romanov

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

The Russian imperial court possessed the richest jewelry collection, the special pride of which was considered to be the jewelry collected by Catherine II. After the revolution, the Bolsheviks sold many of them at the famous 1927 auction in London. To this day, the fate of many of the jewels remains unknown. Only occasionally do some of them surface at jewelry auctions to settle again in private collections. In our museums, we can see a very small amount of jewelry of this empress.

The most famous jewels left in our country by the Empress - the Great Imperial Crown, Orb and Scepter - are kept in the Diamond Fund. The crown and orb were created specifically for the solemn coronation ceremony of Catherine II. The famous court jewelers Georg Friedrich Eckart and Jeremiah (Jeremy) Pozier were engaged in the manufacture of these regalia.

The scepter was made later; its pommel was decorated with the famous Orlov diamond, presented to Catherine by her favorite.

Catherine was famous for her love of jewelry and knew a lot about them. She had a huge number of them - necklaces, rings, brooches … Under her reign, diamond jewelry became fashionable and extremely popular.

Diamonds of Catherine II

Catherine had two such bracelets, made in the style of Louis XVI. In 1927, at the London auction, having paid only 3400 pounds, they were acquired by the auction house S. J. Philips. In 2006, at Christie's auction, their price was already $ 259,000.

Imperial Diamond Necklace of Catherine the Great

This necklace is one of the few pieces of jewelry of the great empress that, after being sold in 1927, began to appear at auctions. In 1927 S. J. Phillips, owner of S. J. Philips bought this necklace and bow brooch in separate lots. For a long time, nothing was known about these jewels. As it turned out later, the necklace and brooch were combined into one whole - a diamond necklace with a bow. In the 1980s, the bow necklace was sold, and again a private collector became its new owner. Once again, the necklace appeared at Sotheby's in 2005 and was sold for $ 1.5 million.

And more recently, in November 2016, it was again lit up at a Geneva auction with a starting price of $ 5 million.

However, this time it was not sold - the price was too high.

Amethysts of Catherine II

In 1750, the first amethysts were found in the Urals, and they turned out to be magnificent both in color and in purity. Of these, Catherine ordered two pairs of girandole earrings. Candlesticks made in the form of fountains were called girandoles. The earrings ordered by Catherine were also shaped like fountains with amethysts in the form of droplets.

Both pairs of earrings at the 1927 sale also went to S. J. Phillips.

Emeralds of Catherine II

Catherine II was very fond of emeralds. Fortunately, not all of her jewelry with emeralds ended up in private collections; in the Armory, you can admire the emerald earrings worn by the empress.

Catherine also had a wonderful brooch with a 70-carat Colombian emerald, which has no analogues either in size or quality.

After the death of his mother, the brooch went to Paul I, and he presented it to his wife Maria Fedorovna. Subsequently, the brooch ended up with her relatives from the Hohenzollern family. In the 2000s, they sold this brooch at Christie's for $ 1,650,500.

This necklace, complete with earrings, was presented by Catherine to John Hobbard, Earl of Buckinghamshire, one of her favorites, who served at Catherine's court for three years. To this day, this necklace is owned by the Hobbar family, although they have twice tried to auction it off.

A cameo with a profile carved on a Colombian emerald is also one of the unique pieces of jewelry of Catherine II. After all, an emerald is a very hard stone, and the master had to work hard to make this cameo. She, too, was sold in 1927 and is now in a private collection.

"Caesar's Ruby"

Another interesting piece of jewelry of Catherine II is kept in the Diamond Fund - a pendant with a tourmaline carved in the form of a bunch of grapes.

For a long time this stone was considered a ruby, it is called the "Caesar's Ruby". According to legend, one of the first owners of this stone was Julius Caesar, who received it as a gift from Cleopatra. In fact, it turned out that this is not a ruby, but a very rare tourmaline-rubellite. One of the last owners of this stone was the Swedish king Gustav III, who presented it to the Russian empress in 1777.

Especially for those who are not left indifferent by precious stones, a story about the most famous emeralds and the most valuable jewelry made from this stone.