Today marks the 70th Anniversary of the Death of Queen Elisabeth of Greece, who passed away on this day in 1956! The controversial Romanian Princess who became a short-tenured Greek Queen and then the wealthy ‘Red Aunt’ of the last Romanian King, Queen Elisabeth received Grand Duchess Victoria Melita’s Cartier Sapphire Sautoir!
Featuring a huge 311-carat cabochon sapphire and a 39-carat sapphire suspended from a diamond chain, this Cartier Sautoir was a Christmas present from Grand Duke Kirill Vladimirovich to Princess Victoria Melita, known as ‘Ducky’, for Christmas in 1911, the year they returned to Russia from years of exile following their scandalous marriage.
The Cartier Sapphire Sautoir was notably worn by Grand Duchess Victoria Melita for a few portraits taken during the 1910s. During the Russian Revolution, the Grand Duchess’ jewels were smuggled out of Russia hidden within the stuffing of her daughters’ dolls, and faced with harsh financial difficulties in exile, she decided to sell her jewels.
Luckily for Princess Victoria Melita, a buyer was close at hand, her sister, Queen Marie of Romania, who had lost her jewels in Russia during WWI. Queen Marie wrote to their mother, Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna:
I spoke to Ducky about some of Aunt Miechen’s jewellery that Ducky wants to sell as these pieces represent the only fortune the family has left – thank God that the jewels of the old lady are fabulous! She was an extraordinarily greedy woman and she received, throughout her entire life, more than her share of anything. Nando gave me a generous sum of money to buy jewellery, since mine are lost forever… It is however a horrible feeling to take these treasures from a person I love more than anything in the world. But at the same time I know that I am a gift from God to her, as I am ready to pay for the pieces in full and right away without negotiating the prices. Oh, and heaven, these jewels are wonderful, as seldom one can find!”
Queen Marie bought the Vladimir Sapphire Kokoshnik for herself, Ducky’s Greek Key Tiara for Princess Helen of Greece, the soon-to-be Romanian Crown Princess, and the Cartier Sapphire Sautoir for her eldest daughter, Princess Elisabeth, who was about to marry Princess Helen’s brother, King George II of Greece. However, Queen Marie spoke about her indignation with her cousin, Queen Sophia of Greece:
Tino and Sophie have sent no wedding present to Lisabetha! Not the smallest tiniest little item of anything! – nothing! I confess to feeling indignant! Sophie has all her jewels, while I lost all mine and yet we made tremendous efforts to send her daughter a beautiful diadem! Oh!—if only I had my jewels, with what delight I would have given one of my diadems to Lisabetha! Now I have given a diadem to my daughter in law, while my own daughter has none!”
Queen Marie also wrote about presenting the necklace to Princess Elisabeth before her Wedding:
After dinner, Nando and I gave Lisabetha our wedding present—a chain of diamond links to which a huge and unique sapphire is attached. It had belonged to Ducky.
The Cartier Sapphire Sautoir was prominently worn by Queen Elisabeth of Greece for a series of portraits and at the Wedding of Prince Paul of Yugoslavia to Princess Olga of Greece in 1923. Following her divorce in 1935, former Queen Elisabeth amassed a great fortune and served as the First Lady of Romania, first for her brother, King Carol, and then nephew, King Michael, and also established close links with the Romanian Communist Party, earning her the name of the ‘Red Aunt’ of the sovereign.
When the Romanian Royal Family was forced into exile by the Communist Government in 1947, Princess Elisabeth managed to smuggle the Cartier Sapphire Sautoir out of the country and notably wore the Sautoir in Paris in 1951.
In 2021, the Sautoir publicly reappeared, as found by Janet of the History of Famous Jewels and Collections Message Board, belonging to a Swiss private collection, though it is not known how they acquired the piece after Princess Elisabeth’s death in 1956.
A few years later, Grand Duchess Victoria Melita’s Cartier Sapphire Sautoir went on display in the Cartier Exhibition at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London in 2025, displayed alongside Queen Marie of Romania’s massive Cartier Sapphire Pendant.
Earlier this year, Grand Duchess Victoria Melita’s Cartier Sapphire Sautoir was on display in the Cartier Exhibition at the National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne, and will no doubt be displayed again for years to come!
Greek Emerald Parure
Queen Marie of Romania’s Cartier Pearl Tiara
Cartier Sapphire Sautoir
Sapphire Tiara
Emerald Tiara
Strawberry Leaf Tiara
Greek Key Tiara
Cartier Sapphire Necklace
Diamond Necklace
English Rose Brooch
Vladimir Sapphire Kokoshnik
Romanian Massin Tiara
Fringe Tiara
Diamond Loop Tiara
Cartier Pearl Tiara
Cartier Sapphire Pendant
Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna’s Pearl Brooch
Cartier Diamond Sautoir
Emerald Tiara
Fringe Tiara
Gold Tiara
Cartier Diamond Eagle
Greek Emerald Parure
Queen Marie of Romania’s Cartier Pearl Tiara
Cartier Sapphire Necklace
Vladimir Sapphire Kokoshnik
Diamond Scroll Tiara
Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna’s Pearl Brooch
Romanian Greek Key Tiara
Queen Sophie’s Diamond Tiara
Russian Sapphire Earrings
Russian Sapphire Brooch
Fleur-de-Lys Brooch
Diamond Sautoir
Schaumburg-Lippe Sapphire Tiara
