I must admit I don't know what to make of this find. Is the mere mentioning of a name in a newspaper article enough evidence? And what about the central sapphire?
--Previous Message-- : I think this discovery is quite spectacular. : As far as I know the name of Maison Van der : Stichel never came up before in the context : of royal jewelry. René Brus does not mention : this firm in his list of jewelers. : I was disappointed, though, that Mr. Hamel : did not reveal the source of his discovery. : I was at the symposium yesterday, and asked : Mr. Hamel afterwards about the newspaper : article, but he gave no further information. : I hope he will do so in a publication. I did : a quick search in the KB digitized : collection of newspapers and also in other : websites but did not find anything. : Apparently, Mr. Hamel's source never was : digitized. It would be interesting to know : if the author of the 1898 article mentions : the source of his information (implicitly or : explicitly). : : : --Previous Message-- : According to George Hamel, a gemnologist who : worked for Court Jeweller Steltman in The : Hague, the provenance of the Dutch Sapphire : Tiara is: Maison van der Stichel in : Amsterdam. : : He presented his case during the Silverstad : Symposium in Silver city Schoonhoven. He has : found a newspaper article from 1898 stating : that the Tiara was made at that firm. He : also claims the central sapphire was not an : heirloom (brooch) from Queen Anna Pavolvna. : : Mystery solved? : : Vorsten online : : : Volkskrant article : : : Photo Van der Stichel, Amsterdam : : : : : : :
on December 1, 2013, 8:33 am, in reply to "