I agree that nothing so far rules out Queen Alexandra having both of those colliers at some stage.
--Previous Message-- : I honestly believe that Queen Alexandra could : have commissioned both this necklaces from : Cartier, for a woman in her position it is : more than likely that she could have had : more than one collier résille in her : collection. : : We now know that Queen Alexandra gave : detailed instruction upon the division of : her jewels, by notes in her inventory. It : could be possible that the garland style : necklace was dispersed among her other : children, and Queen Mary was left the : necklace we definitely know was in the Royal : Collection. : : There were countless jewels owned and worn : by Queen Alexandra, with no photographic : record of them actual being worn. The only : way to be sure, would be to look in her : jewellery inventory, or through all her : accounts in the Cartier archives to see if : there is any mention of the second one. : Field mentions that QA had two collier : résille; Roberts definitely mentions one, : but doesn't discount the possibility of : another, which means that it could be : possible. More research would have to be : done into it. : : --Previous Message-- : : Monica, I assume you are referring to the : necklace shown below on the left? I'm not : sure that ever belonged to Queen Alexandra. : : : : Here is a summary of information I read : years ago on a message board that is no : longer accessible: : : The piece on the left is identified or : described in Menkes (which I don't have) as : Queen Alexandra's collier résille. Her : source was Cartier: Jewelers Extraordinary : by Hans Nadelhoffer, 1984. In that book the : two plates above are shown next to each : other or on opposite pages. The caption of : the one with swags and bows does identify it : as having been made for Queen Alexandra but : I don't recall what the other one said. It : is thought that the two captions mistakenly : got swapped, causing the confusion. The : necklace on the right appears to be the one : worn by Queen Alexandra and Queen Mary, : whose alterations would have included the : removal of the garland borders. : : It will be a couple of days before I can : visit the library in my city that has : Nadelhoffer. Perhaps someone who has it can : verify this story? : : : : :