Bagration Tiara

Happy Birthday to the Dowager Duchess of Westminster, who turns 65 today! The illustrious aristocrat who grew up close to the Royal Family before marrying the wealthy Duke and becoming a godmother of the Prince of Wales, the Duchess possesses a spectacular Jewellery Collection, which is highlighted by the Bagration Spinel Tiara and Parure!

The spectacular Spinel Tiara and Parure is composed of pear, cushion and round spinels set within a stylized scroll diamond motif, set into a Tiara, a Necklace, a pair of Earrings, and a Comb, which date from the early 19th century, likely being created by the famed Fossin of Chaumet, though the necklace and earrings were made at a later date, around 1840.

The Spinel Tiara and Parure originated from the infamous Princess Catherine Bagration, the niece of the great Prince Potemkin who married into an ancient Georgian-Russian Dynasty, who was known for her beauty, love affairs and unconventional behaviour travelling around Europe.

Princess Catherine Bagration inherited the jewels of Prince Potemkin but the fate of this parure was unknown until it came up for auction at Christie’s Geneva in November 1973, when it was purchased by S.J. Phillips, before being acquired by the future 6th Duke of Westminster in 1977 for his bride, Natalia Phillips, who herself had Russian descent, being a great-granddaughter of Grand Duke Michael of Russia and a direct descendant of Alexander Pushkin.

Natalia Phillips wore the Bagration Spinel Tiara for the first, and so far only, time for her Wedding to the then Earl Grosvenor (soon-to-be the Duke of Westminster) at St. Mary’s Church in Luton in October 1978.

Over a decade later, the Duchess of Westminster wore the Bagration Spinel Parure for King Constantine and Queen Anne Marie’s Silver Anniversary Gala Dinner in Copenhagen in 1989.

The Bagration Spinel Parure was also worn by a model, likely Laura Montagu, now Countess of Burlington, who wore it during a photoshoot when she tried on major pieces of the Westminster collection in the 1990s.

Over the years, the Bagration Spinel Tiara and Parure have been photographed for books and also put on display, especially in connection with jewels of Russian heritage.