Tomorrow marks the 90th Anniversary of the Wedding of Infante Alfonso, Duke of Calabria and Princess Alice of Bourbon-Parma, who got married in Vienna in 1936! Several Family Heirlooms were reset by Chaumet into a spectacular Sapphire Parure, a Ruby Parure and a Pearl and Diamond Parure for Princess Alice upon her marriage to Infante Alfonso!
The famed Maison Chaumet reset older Family Heirlooms into a spectacular Corbeille de Mariage for Princess Alice, with Infante Don Alfonso providing several heirlooms inherited by his mother, the Infanta Maria de las Mercedes, and his grandmother, Queen Maria Cristina. Ahead of the Wedding, these jewels were displayed at Maison Chaumet in Paris.
On April 16, 1936, Infante Don Alfonso married Princess Alicia de Bourbon Parma in Vienna. For this occasion the Infante decided to order from Maison Chaumet a marvellous corbeille de mariage for his fiancée. This very complete lot of jewelry comprised three sets: pearls, rubies, and sapphires. These jewels stand out for their very good taste, modern design and quality.
It is assumed that to make these pieces many of the jewels that the Infante had inherited from his mother, the Infanta Maria de las Mercedes, and from his grandmother, Queen Maria Cristina, were dismantled. Among his possessions, Don Alfonso had at least two diadems (one of pearls and one of rubies), a riviere necklace, a sapphire demi-parure, several pearl necklaces, among many other pieces.
Infanta Alicia primarily wore the Chaumet Sapphire Tiara and Parure, most notably at the Wedding of King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia of Spain in 1962, before it was sold at Auction in 1984.
The Chaumet Ruby Parure was inherited by her elder daughter, Princess Teresa of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, who married Iñigo Moreno y Arteaga, 12th Marquess of Laula in 1961, and wore the Tiara and Parure on numerous occasions before the Parure was Auctioned in 1996.
The Chaumet Pearl and Diamond Tiara was sold at Auction at Christie’s in the 1970s, but the Earrings, now set with Diamonds, still remain with Princess Teresa, being worn by her granddaughter, Teresa Urquijo y Moreno, in 2024.
After Infanta Alicia’s death in 2017, many of the illustrious heirloom jewels she inherited from her own family were auctioned off in the landmark ‘Royal Jewels from the Bourbon Parma Family’ Sale at Sotheby’s in Geneva.
