Musings on the Jubilee Diamond ExhibitionArchived Message
Posted by Bob on September 26, 2012, 4:21 pm
I am just back from London where I had the chance to visit the Diamond Exhibition at Buckingham Palace. Although the room was beyond packed, I took the time to closely examine the jewels on display, particularly the settings for the jewels. One rarely gets a chance to see the "underside" of these things.
A few things intrigued me.
1) Girls of Great Britain tiara: one can clearly see how the base separates from the rest of the tiara. There are clippy things all around holding the two pieces together.
Also, I couldn't figure out how the tiara can be made into a circlet, the way Queen Mary sometimes wore it. It was only afterward, when reading the exhibition catalogue, that I found out that there is a separate setting to make it into a circlet. (Roberts does mention a separate setting, but had forgotten).
2) The Kokoshnik tiara: Up close, one can clearly see the bar running across the diamond plaques that holds the piece in place as a tiara. I had forgotten that it can be worn as a necklace (although I don't think I've ever seen pictures of it worn that way).
3) The Durbar Tiara: It's big! It is displayed as a circlet. Hard as I might, I could not find any evidence of how/where it separates to take the form of an open tiara, the way the Duchess of Cornwall wears it.
4) Queen Victoria's small crown: It's small!!! One can clearly see the mechanisms that allow the arches to separate from the crown.
Some of the tiaras still had fabric wound around the base to make them more comfortable to wear. It took me a while to realize that the white fabric is intended to blend with The Queen's grey hair. Duh!!!
I went late on a Thursday afternoon, figuring that the crowds would be smaller. Not really. The room was packed with many tourists, many of whom discussed knowledgeably about the jewels (not really). A woman next to me stated categorically to her friends that the Williamson diamond was a pink sapphire. I merely chuckled and allowed her to feel superior to her lady friends.
If you have a chance to visit the exhibit before it closes next week, it is really worth the price of admission (and almost worth the price of the plane fare).