Princess Margaret's sapphire brooches Archived Message
Posted by Arthur on November 6, 2014, 8:11 am, in reply to "Nikita Krushchev's gifts to the British Royal Family in 1956"
I have wandered through Princess Margaret's collection of jewels to see if we could find a sapphire brooch which could be the one presented by Nikita Khrushchev in 1956. Very little results, actually, as most of Princess Margaret's sapphire brooches were made by French or British jewellers (Garrard, Cartier or Collingwood), which excludes a Soviet provenance - I am sure that Khrushchev would have made a point to display, through his jewellery gifts, the (excellent) craftmanship of Russian jewellers (the Kremlin's Diamond Fund has kept on creating new jewels throughout the 20th century). Excluding sapphire brooches identified as creations of these French or British jewellers, I have found two brooches which could (without certainty, though) be Princess Margaret's "Khrushchev Brooch": - this one, sold at auction in 2006: http://www.christies.com/lotfinder/lot/an-antique-sapphire-and-diamond-broochclasp-4718165-details.aspx?from=salesummary&intObjectID=4718165&sid=c82c0b1e-04f3-448c-83c3-5cdee4711222 Christie's does not give indication about the jeweller who created this brooch, nor about the provenance of this brooch. But the brooch is dated circa 1890, whereas I would have expected Khrushchev rather to give a newly-made brooch. - two other sapphire brooches were sold, before her death, by Princess Margaret herself: (sorry, I do not remember who has posted these pictures first - maybe Ianusk?) The flower-shaped brooch on the top left and the round brooch on the top right are made with sapphires and diamonds. But the flower brooch (number 223 on the catalogue page) is reported to be made by Cartier, which probably excludes a Soviet gift. The round cabochon brooch (number 224) has no identified origin - so it could be the Khrushchev brooch (but so far, it is only speculation!).
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