Or aquamarine, garnet or citrine, or heat treated (blue) topaz. Any sort of translucent stone would have suited it, the opacity of the turquoises drags the energy of the tiara down considerably.
--Previous Message-- : You are right, turquoises are an unfitting : option for this tiara. But the emeralds were : remove in order to sell them separately. So : sapphires or especially rubies that size, : would have been so expensive, that there : were no financial advantage for VC&A. But : maybe amethyst would have been affordable? : Imho even glass replacements would have : looked better... :