Previous Message

Last Saturday, 26th November, 2022, the annual "Bal des Débutantes" took place in Shangri-La Hotel in Paris. It looked to be the usual mix of authentic princesses, aristocrats and commoner socialites, but anyway, there was a VERY nice selection of jewels to get a look at.

I have read that "V Muse Jewelry" was the jewel sponsor of the evening, I have to look for more information about them...)




Princess Hélène of Orléans, daughter of Prince Charles-Louis of Orléans, Duke of Chartres (himself one of the many grandsons of the late Count and Countess of Paris), and of the Duchess of Chartres (née Ileana Manos), wore a Boucheron diamond necklace. The tiara is not an Orléans heirloom, as it was on sale at Christie's in June 2018:
https://www.christies.com/lot/lot-art-deco-diamond-tiaranecklace-boucheron-6151583/?
The Princess' ball partner was her elder brother, Prince Philippe of Orléans (but she also danced with her father).





Interestingly, Princess Hélène had tried the necklace first as tiara, with an emerald necklace which looks very much like the emerald necklace of her namesake Hélène of Orléans, Duchess of Aosta (1871-1951). A piy that she eventually did not wear this historical necklace!




Leah Isadora Behn, daughter of Princess Märtha-Louise of Norway, wore a delicate and very beautiful Edwardian diamond tiara - definitely not a Norwegian royal heirloom, as this tiara appeared on auction at Sotheby's on 6th June, 2018: https://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/2018/fine-jewels-l18051/lot.14.html
Her ball partner was Maharadjah Laskshya Prakash of Sirmur.






Annabel Zimmer, daughter of multi-Oscar-winner composer Hans Zimmer, wore an impressive pair of ruby and diamond girandoles. Her ball partner was Ignacio of Borbon (I don't know exactly how he is related to the Spanish royal family). On the second picture below, the young lady with the pearl and diamond leaf spray brooch in her hair is Bristol Fales-Hill.





Wenhao Cai, daughter of plastician artist Guo Qiang Cai and of Mrs. Hong Hong Wu, wore an antique tiara, which can probably be worn as a necklace as well. Her ball partner was Louis Aubry.







But the most exciting jewel surprise of the evening was the reappearrance of the Bourbon-Parma diamond parure, which was one of the main pieces of the Bourbon-Parma jewel auction at Sotheby's on 14th November, 2018. The necklace was a wedding gift to Princess Louise of Artois when she married Charles III, Duke of Parma, in 1845 and was made using diamonds from an encrusted sword which had belonged to the Princess' father, Charles-Ferdinand, Duke of Berry. The brooch was made in 1903 for the wedding of Princess Maria-Anna of Habsburg-Teschen to Prince Elias of Bourbon-Parma, using diamonds coming from Queen Marie-Antoinette and from her daughter Marie-Thérèse, Duchess of Angoulême.

Here, these historic jewels were worn by pianist Aruzhan Bimurzina (here with her ball partner Count Alberico di Carpegna). The brooch is worn as a central pendant to the necklace.






And another piece of the Bourbon-Parma jewels glittered on Archduchess Sophia of Habsburg-Lorraine: the pair of diamond girandole earrings of Maria-Teresa of Savoia, Duchess of Parma. The Archduchess' ball partner was prince Leopold of Baden:




(Pictures credit: Le Bal/Jacovides/Borde/Moreau/Bestimage and François Goizé/Vanity Fair)