These three items are doozies! They are all held in the Diamond Fund, exhibited in the Kremlin Armoury in Moscow, Russia.
The female members of the Russian Royal Romanovs weren’t the only ones to wear fanciful diamonds. Imagine this diamond epaulette on the shoulder of a uniform keeping a sash in its proper place. The extraordinary quality of the workmanship is easy to see. The diamond tassels must have looked amazing dangling and swaying off the shoulder of an Emperor in full dress uniform. It measures 2.56-inches by 5.51-inches.
The history of this splendid specimen is worth reading https://gem-a.com/gem-hub/around-the-world/caesars-ruby-rubellite-tourmaline . I’m not sure how this was worn by Catherine the Great. How would you wear it?
If a visual was needed for the definition of the word “whimsical” then this would be it. I would have loved to have seen this worn on the head of a pet monkey while it sat on the shoulder of Catherine the Great. Imagine that lovely briolette diamond sparkling along with the rubies and emeralds. I had this photo but was unable to find this hat on any of the photographic plates in the Catalog. I was reading the last section of descriptions hoping against all my better judgement for something related to this fantastic item. On the last page, third description from the end . . . there it was. I yelled out loud “eureka” – for real – and I was so happy. I finally had documentation which enabled me to add it to my list of treasures to share with you all.
Join me next week when we wrap up with some additional splendor!