Im a bit confused by the story that this was a tiara with diamond interlocking circles where a few pearls were added to.
There are not interlocking circles and if you remove the pearls you end up with a very odd looking piece. So if the pearls are a later addition it was also the moment to completely redesign the previous piece. Not that that was uncommon, we all know Queen Mary of the UK changed many of her pieces into other/new versions.