or centuries, crowns were the exclusive domain of emperors and monarchs, of interest only to treasure-hunters, historians and museum-goers. But that was before social media – in particular Instagram, launched in 2010 – transformed our screens into endlessly scrollable photo albums. Suddenly, the whole world (or at least those parts with an internet connection) was looking at pictures, personal and official, of nobles, royals… and their glittering jewels.

The British royal family’s Instagram page (@theroyalfamily) has 13.3 million followers, pipped at the post by the 15.1 million who follow the Prince and Princess of Wales (@princeandprincessofwales). Magazines, not to mention the tabloids, have traditionally tracked and commented on the royals’ every move. Now that photographs of their comings and goings are posted live online, regal attire has become a familiar sight, including jewellery.

The coronation of Elizabeth II on 2 June 1953 at Westminster Abbey, as featured in Europa Star

Interest in the British Crown Jewels peaked during Queen Elizabeth II’s platinum jubilee in 2022 and for the coronation of King Charles III on May 6, 2023. Accompanied by a stream of images and expert opinions, occasions such as these have made head ornaments increasingly desirable.

Ida Faerber is director of Faerber Collection and a board member for the GemGenève international gem and jewellery show in Geneva. She believes this renewed interest in head ornaments originated with social media and with the fact that information is now primarily visual. “Instagram feeds are filled with images of royalty wearing their crowns or tiaras at official engagements and weddings. These photographs are there for everyone to see and, because we have them at our fingertips, on our phones, jewellery that once seemed unattainable has suddenly become accessible, and not just virtually: there is a growing belief that these adornments are not just for kings and queens, and indeed people are wearing them more and more.”

Wedding favours

Antique jewellery dealer Alexandre Rieunier, who has a collection of tiaras, was one of the first to pick up on the rising trend for head ornaments. During a conversation at GemGenève, he explained how “in the last decades of the twentieth century, diamond dealers and jewellers bought tiaras to dismantle them, recover the stones and melt down the metal to make new pieces. The tiara became obsolete and many were lost. However, we have seen a revival in recent years. Tiaras are making a comeback.”

Late nineteenth-century pearl and diamond tiara, Faerber Collection. The openwork leaf motif is set with old-cut and rose-cut diamonds for a total approximate weight of 5 carats, with a pinkish grey, drop-shaped natural pearl in its centre, mounted in blackened silver and gold. Detachable front with a screw fitting. Circa 1890. Supplied with Gemmological Certificate no. 80253-20 dated 29/01/2020 stating that the pearl is pinkish grey and of natural saltwater origin. ©Faerber Collection

“When I began working for Christie’s London in 2010, I set up a private sales service,” he adds. “I’d been living in the United Kingdom, a monarchy with strong traditions, for almost a decade and immediately thought of the tiara. Believe it or not, I sold more tiaras than any other jewellery! Many were acquired by wealthy families wishing to start a tradition. One of our clients had four daughters. He wanted to give them something they would enjoy and so he gifted each of them a lovely tiara. When the daughter of an affluent family in China, Japan, the Middle East or South America marries, she always wears a tiara, often an antique model.”

Mention the word “tiara” and the name Chaumet immediately comes to mind (see “Chaumet’s Dazzling Tiaras” online at Europa Star). The Parisian jeweller has curated an exceptional collection of antique and vintage tiaras and head ornaments, which, given its history, is no surprise. “The tiara has been a centrepiece of Chaumet’s creativity and collections since the house was established and in particular during the Empire period,” says Director of Heritage Claire Gannet. “Tiaras, which borrow from ancient Greece and Rome, were a demonstration of the emperor’s power, and the emperor indeed required that the ladies of the Court wear tiaras for all official engagements, thus launching a fashion. Over the last two and a half centuries, the tiara has been reinvented many times, endlessly adapting to artistic movements and the tastes of the day.”

The “dollar princesses”

How did tiaras, historically worn by royalty and nobility, appear on the heads of upper-class ladies? Claire Gannet cites the American dollar princesses, as they became known, as one of the reasons. “In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, numerous marriages took place between the daughters of American billionaire magnates and members of the hereditary British, and to a lesser extent French, aristocracy. New world money came to the rescue of old world aristocracy. These industrial families, who came to prominence during America’s Gilded Age, wanted to stand out at dinners and society gatherings.”

This tiara by Mellerio can be converted into a necklace. It was sold by antique jewellery dealer Alexandre Rieunier Jewels in 2021. ©Alexandre Rieunier

The American clientele of the leading jewellers of the day showed off their tiaras at the grand balls thrown by prominent New York families such as the Astors and the Vanderbilts, determined to imitate the lifestyle of British royalty and aristocracy.

The tiara has evolved with time. The most striking transformation occurred during the Roaring Twenties, when jewellers looked for new ways to secure head ornaments to the now fashionable cropped bob. And so the bandeau was born. “The transition from the tiara to the bandeau in the 1930s was characteristic of women’s new status,” says Pierre Rainero, Director of Image, Style and Heritage at Cartier. “A woman enjoyed far greater freedom of movement with a bandeau, which also lent itself to different materials and was no longer obligatorily set with diamonds. Many early twentieth-century bandeaux incorporated an aigrette, which added height. Women didn’t stop wearing head ornaments. Instead, they adapted them to their new lifestyle and the new rules of society.”

“Mirror of an era”

At the most recent edition of GemGenève, in November 2023, the Faerber Collection exhibited a magnificent Art Deco platinum bandeau by Chaumet. This rare piece is set with an octagonal Colombian emerald of 11.54 carats framed by old-cut and rose-cut diamonds totalling an estimated 77 carats. The detachable sections can be worn as a bracelet.

This bandeau carries the maker’s mark of Joseph Chaumet and was completed on May 14, 1924. It was originally surmounted by a pear-shaped pearl which could be removed and worn as a pendant. Of noble provenance – it is believed to have belonged to the Duc de Brissac – it was transformed several times between 1933 and 1949.

The tapering band of openwork design, centering an octagonal step-cut Columbian emerald of 11.54 carats within a surround of palmette motifs, paved with old-mine, old-European and rose-cut diamonds, in millegrain settings throughout, each panel can be detached and worn as a bracelet, the centre on screw fittings. The diamonds estimated to weigh a total of circa 77 carats, mounted in platinum, with French assay marks and makers mark for Joseph Chaumet, circa 1924, including two clasp elements of later make, maximum length 397mm. ©Faerber Collection

“A lady attending a grand ball would have danced the waltz, with her head straight, but in the 1920s it simply wasn’t practical to dance the Charleston while balancing a tiara,” Ida Faerber explains. “Hair was worn short, in a bob, and so women opted for a bandeau which they attached with clips or wires. It’s rare to see a 1920s Chaumet tiara offered for sale with a large centre stone still intact. Suites were often broken up and the stones removed then remounted in the latest styles.”

Ears of wheat tiara in gold, silver and diamonds, circa 1811, Paris. François-Regnault Nitot (1779-1853). Chaumet Collections. ©Chaumet

One of the most astonishing aspects of an historic tiara is the quality and intricacy of the jewellery work. “These are rare and magnificent objects,” says Ida Faerber. “Only three or four jewellers in the world, at best, would be capable of identically recreating this bandeau. See how finely wrought the piercing is. The back is as beautiful as the front. It would have taken hundreds of hours to complete. We rarely see this kind of thing today, not because the expertise no longer exists – the large jewellery houses keep these skills alive – but because attitudes have changed. Women expect their jewellery to keep pace with them and their activities, hence today’s more solid pieces. When you look at Chaumet’s historic tiaras, you wonder how something so delicate has survived all these years. You almost can’t see the metal. It’s really a work of art. They are the mirror of their era.”

Contemporary designs

For jewellery dealers and collectors, provenance can add to a piece’s intrinsic value as well as telling an interesting story. “I own a tiara which belonged to the family of a German prince whose name I’m not at liberty to disclose,” says Alexandre Rieunier. “The great-grandfather of the family bought it in 1904 as a wedding gift for his daughter, from Gebrüder Friedländer in Berlin, suppliers to the Prussian Court. She had no children and so she left it to her niece, who is the mother of the gentleman who sold it to me. This tiara stayed in the family for 116 years.”

In 2011, Lorenz Bäumer had the honour of being chosen as Princess Charlène of Monaco’s personal jeweller for her wedding. The “Écume de diamants” tiara is set with sparkling round and baguette diamonds and eleven pear-cut diamonds, the largest of which weighs 8 carats. It can be worn as a tiara or as a brooch. Karl Lagerfeld immortalised this magical moment. Photo: ©Karl Lagerfeld

As well as buying antique tiaras to wear, today’s clientele turn to the major jewellery houses or to contemporary designers such as Lorenz Bäumer (see “The Irreverent Jewellery of Lorenz Bäumer” online at Europa Star). He had the honour of creating the Écume de Diamants tiara worn by Princess Charlene for her marriage, in 2011, to H.S.H. Prince Albert II of Monaco. Inspired by the ocean and the movement of the waves – the princess is a medal-winning swimmer and Bäumer a keen surfer – this white gold tiara is set with round, baguette and pear-cut diamonds, the largest of which weighs 8 carats.

Karl Lagerfeld himself photographed the jeweller with the princess wearing this versatile piece, which converts into a brooch. “Tiaras are sought-after in Asia and the Near East, and while it isn’t something I’m asked for every day, this isn’t the only one I’ve made,” Lorenz Bäumer confides.

Tiaras for hire

Someone who doesn’t have the means, or the wish, to buy a tiara can hire one. “London jeweller Hancocks has a wonderful selection of tiaras that can be rented,” notes Ida Faerber. Speaking to Wallpaper magazine in October 2022, Hancocks’ director Guy Burton explained how “we have seen such a marked rise in interest in tiaras over the last year or so that it felt like the right time to begin offering this service to our clients. It is something Hancocks did historically and now, with [pandemic-related] restrictions easing and weddings back on the cards, it made sense to us to revisit this.”

Lacis Tiara by Chaumet

What makes a woman choose to wear a head ornament today? “When a woman wears a tiara, she becomes a princess,” says Lorenz Bäumer. “It’s what every bride dreams of. There used to be an entire etiquette of tiara-wearing: who could wear one, what size, when. That’s all disappeared. Now you can wear a tiara however you want.”

A higher realm

“There is something symbolic about wearing jewellery on the head, the highest part of the body. It elevates,” says Pierre Rainero. “A tiara is a beautiful thing. It illuminates the face, you notice it immediately. Except in royal families, the tiara no longer follows social codes. It’s such a wonderful way to wear jewellery, it would be a missed opportunity not to do so.”

Firmament de Minuit Tiara by Chaumet

As well as an ornament and a social marker, a tiara or a crown has a mystical dimension. “A crown reaches upwards to the heavens,” Alexandre Rieunier observes. “It symbolises the divine right of kings. These are fascinating objects not only because of their beauty and artistry, but also for this sacred dimension. Whether it’s made from plastic or set with precious stones, for every little girl, the tiara symbolises the myth of the princess. It’s an anthropological phenomenon. It’s part of how human societies were built.