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We are back to discuss our special private view of the iconic Jewels from Royal and Noble Collections on display in the highly anticipated Cartier Exhibition at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London!
Link: https://royalwatcherblog.com/2025/04/12/royal-jewels-in-the-cartier-exhibition-at-the-victoria-albert-museum/
You can find us on social media as ‘The Royal Watcher’ [@saadsalman719 on Twitter and @the_royal_watcher on Instagram], as well as on royalwatcherblog.com, while Sam (https://thebeaumonde.org/) is @thebeaumonde.inc on Instagram.
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0:00
[Music] Hello and welcome back to the Royal
0:07
Watcher podcast after quite a big break. Um, I'm Sod and I'm joined again by our
0:13
lovely Sam to discuss the long aaited Cardier exhibition at the Victorian Albert Museum in London which I think is
0:20
one of the highlights of past few years. Yeah, I think it's probably the most important jewelry exhibition since um
0:29
well since the the uh the Queen's Jubilee one at Buckingham Palace. So
0:34
yes, it's an amazing amazing collection of jewels that the VNA and Cartier have
0:39
managed to bring together. Oh yes, it's amazing and especially I think the amount of royal and noble
0:45
loans at the exhibit. There are some pieces which are really iconically Cardier, but there's some special pieces
0:52
which have appeared after quite a long time and that's very special to see.
0:58
Yeah, I think this is just a general overview of kind of the some of the royal noble jewels which we're going to
1:03
be discussing today, but I think we move on to the next slide and talk about our two visits to the Cardier exhibit uh in
1:10
July and we're hopefully going to be going again in a few weeks. So, it is
1:15
really one of those things where I feel we can see so much and um there's
1:22
something kind of new to see every time and new aspects of the exhibition that we're able to see on our our different
1:29
visits. Yes. So, unfortunately, the first time we went, it was in the middle of a heat wave, so I don't think we were in the
1:35
best mood to appreciate everything, even though it was stunning on the first view. Um,
1:41
yes. And actually it was air conditioned inside which was a miracle for us. Was a miracle. I think that's the worst
1:46
thing. The first the thing I take away from my first visit was there was air conditioning
1:52
which to those who were in London in July would know it was really horrible. Yeah. So that was a very nice change and but
2:01
it was crowded on our first visit. However, if we go to the next slide, we'll show a preview of our second visit, which was kindly arranged for us
2:08
by Helen Molsworth, who's the jewelry creator of the VNA, and she invited us and our friend Queen Aziza Bahang for a
2:15
private tour of the exhibit, and that was so special. Yes, that was amazing. Once in a lifetime, and I don't think we can thank
2:22
Helen enough for that. Oh, exactly. It was really such an
2:27
amazing experience. And I think we'll never forget that. Especially I think being able to see everything with the
2:34
curator. And I'm sure I bothered Helen quite a bit, but we went into so many different tangents in front of every
2:39
exhibit. I think it took us two hours to get through the whole thing. It was the most kind of it was a jewelry lover's
2:45
dream. It really was. So I think before we go get into it,
2:50
just a general overview. So the exhibit starts uh with the great Manchester
2:56
tiara which is part of the VNA's permanent exhibit but what I really liked was how the different kind of art
3:03
the countries were divided in the first exhibition hall and they showed um kind
3:09
of Egypt, India, China, Japan and how Cardier created jewelry inspired by
3:15
artifacts and objects from those countries and the different kind of international impact that Cardier has
3:21
had for um clients in those countries as well as international clients which has really become a part of Cardia's iconic
3:27
style and then Helen uh really um juxaposed that with the objects from the
3:33
BNA collection which are from those countries and you could see the inspiration in the design and the culture that Cardier drew from
3:40
and uh we can move from here into the next slide which uh was the kind of our
3:46
favorite room. I think this was the tiara room which comes at the very end of the exhibit but it was I think just
3:52
the most magnificent place and it was just a pleasure to be around. Yes, they and they had some absolutely amazing
3:59
pieces, you know, all the way from um the Edwardian style um you know to the
4:05
modern era to the modern um incarnations of the tiara that Cartier um sort of designed up until the
4:13
60s really, wasn't it? Or yeah, actually there were a few contemporary tias as well made kind of
4:19
in the last decade or so. Yes, I think some of the pretty fruity stuff, but I mean different iterations. And I think
4:25
this uh the tiara we can see in the foreground here with that massive emerald that was in made in 2006 or
4:32
2012, I can't remember which one, but it was another one of those modern pieces, but you could really see the inspiration
4:37
of due from the past styles. Yeah. And then I think we move on from here to the start, which was the jewelry
4:44
loan by King Charles. Um among them I think the most magnificent was the
4:49
Williamson pink diamond brooch which really I think was spectacular to see
4:55
and the diamond is massive. Um the fact that it's one of those pieces that are still that is worn by Queen Camila and
5:02
it's such an iconic part of the late queen. It was really special to see that on display. It was I'm very surprised it
5:08
was on display because as as you say it's such a massive pink stone uh pink
5:13
diamond and it's such a rarity that um yeah was I was very surprised it left
5:19
the vault. Yeah. And and it was quite nice to see that and then alongside that were two
5:26
Cardier um brooches that belong to the Queen Mother and I think this is uh some of those things that are really
5:31
iconically part of her collection. She was a big patron of Cardier. her husband bought a lot of Cardier jewels. So for
5:37
uh this kind of intimate um jewels to be on display, that was very special. And I
5:42
like that um the VNA were able to find the original drawings of the ruby clipes
5:47
and that showed the different iterations of that. And also the drawings for the
5:53
Williams and pink diamond brooch. So you could see kind of what different elements that went to its construction
5:58
what it might have been if it um with the different designs. Yes. I I always appreciate the the
6:05
concept drawings that go along with the pieces. Yeah, it's very special. So, this was
6:10
kind of the main loans from the royal collection. There were a couple of other pieces. There was a necklace. Um there's
6:15
a bracelet from the late queen which was an 18th birthday gift to her. There were a couple of smaller pieces, but I think
6:22
these are the most kind of iconic ones and it was lovely to see them. Yeah. Yeah. And then we can move on to
6:28
another royal loan which was the Princess Royal's Cartier Aquamarine Pineflower tiara which the Queen Mother
6:35
received from the king in 1938 and it was given as a wedding gift to Princess
6:40
Anne in 73 and it had gone a bit of a change in the 80s and this was now on
6:48
display. It was a striking piece, but I wouldn't say it's the most attractive tiara and it suits Princess Anne, but
6:54
it's not necessarily a very wearable piece. Uh, it's not, but it's
7:00
This audio was created with podcastle.ai. It's not necessarily a very wearable
7:07
piece. Uh, it's not, but it's definitely of its time. Oh, definitely. Yes.
7:15
And I think this is one of those pieces I think that sometime in the future I have suspect it may actually enter the
7:22
Cardi collection because it is something that is now associated a lot with Cardi
7:28
exhibitions and stuff. So there is a general pipeline that we can see for that tiara. Yeah. And I mean um the Princess Royal
7:34
does favor her feston tiara, doesn't she? Yes. The feston and the meaner tiara.
7:40
Yeah. So that one's a bit out of there, but it was nice to see and nice that she
7:45
learned something which is very rare. And then I think our favorite piece comes in the next slide
7:51
which is the magnificent Duchess of Gloucester's Cardi India tiara. And
7:56
that's something I saw last year already and we discussed that in our um video on
8:01
the Cardi exhibition in Abu Dhabi. But it was just amazing to see it again and it it really is I think the highlight of
8:08
the Cardi collection. Okay. That's your favorite piece. It's not mine.
8:14
No, I think it's just magnificent. So, this is my favorite. Yeah, sure. We know we coming up. So,
8:19
yes. Yeah. No, I This is I think um from the
8:26
tiaraas, this was probably the largest one on display. And the fact that it does still belong to a royal collection
8:31
and still worn regularly, that I think makes it a lot more special than quite a lot of the other pieces on display.
8:39
Yeah. And then I think we can go to the next slide where we have um Princess Margaret's um cardio rose brooch and
8:46
this is one of the most iconic pieces from her collection that she wore to the Queen's Coronation and quite a lot in
8:53
her younger years and then it was sold at auction and now it's become one of those pieces in the Cardier um
9:00
collection that does tour around. But this is the first time I ever saw it and I thought it was quite lovely to see.
9:05
Yeah, I'd say this is one of my favorite royal jewels and it's actually become quite an iconic piece for Cartier. I
9:11
mean, it was featured heavily on the promotion for this exhibition. So, it's an important piece.
9:16
Yeah. And it's something that the fact that Princess Margaret only wore like a
9:22
couple of dozen times in the 50s and the early 60s and then never really wore it again. But it's become such an iconic
9:28
piece. I think mostly because of Cardier's promotion and the auction that happened 20 years ago. So, it's
9:35
um just showing the history of it and how it's going to progress. That's very interesting.
9:40
Yeah. And then we move on to the next slide where we have your favorite section. My favorite section.
9:47
All the jewels of the Duchess of Windsor. Not all of them, but um the ones that are that were lent and are now in the
9:54
Cartier um heritage exhibition. But yeah, for those who don't know, I've written a whole series on Wallace
10:00
Simpson, Duchess of Windsor and her jewels. So to see so many of them in one
10:06
place was quite special. Oh, definitely. And I remember the first time when it was hard to get you to move
10:12
away from that display case cuz you kept on coming back to it. I kept on coming back and I was just getting very annoyed with people because
10:18
they just didn't get it like I did. No one was as excited as you were.
10:25
Right. But it was lovely to see everything. It was. and she was such an important um
10:32
customer of uh Cartiier and she well I mean I wouldn't like to say that she
10:37
single-handedly promoted the Cartiier Panther which is now their um their icon
10:44
their signature piece but she was definitely um very much involved. I mean her collection of Cartier Panther
10:51
jewelry uh totaled nine pieces in total. It's a huge collection. Um, and the fact
10:58
that, you know, a lot of them have returned to Cartier is very interesting. Yes, it's very special. And the fact
11:03
they've managed to hold on to these iconic pieces, which I think become more and more special as time goes on,
11:10
especially when you think um she was heavily involved in their promotion back in the day. And um I think she did um
11:19
not necessarily directly but uh she did get a lot of loans of Cardier pieces and
11:25
she promoted them and so they became such an iconic part of her look. So the fact they managed to acquire back and
11:31
then get stuff in loans is I quite special for them and their legacy. Definitely.
11:37
And then I think my favorite piece was the flamingo brooch and the necklace
11:43
from Queen Mary which is really the only royal jewel she ever received. So that
11:48
was so interesting to see there. Yes, it was it was interesting for me because she did have two pearl necklaces
11:54
and I was very interested which one had ended up in the Cartier collection and it turned out it was the royal piece
12:01
that Queen Mary owned. Yep. And this one was later acquired by Kelly Klein and she sold it at auction a
12:08
few years ago. So nice car you got. Yeah. So then I think we move on to the next
12:15
slide which has another iconic two more iconic royal jewels which are the Bane
12:20
deer tiara and the engagement ring of Princess Grace of Monaco. And this was
12:26
um very special to see because Princess Grace is another one of those iconic Cardier customers. And this tiara is
12:33
really such a part of her legacy and in fact she wore it all the time. But to see it on display was very special.
12:40
Well, very special. And I guess I suppose I think Grace comes in a joint first with Wallace. I can't say either
12:46
one um beats them uh as my favorite uh jewelry connoisseur. But it's, you know,
12:52
Grace Kelly when she became Princess of Monaco, they didn't have a royal jewelry collection. So she had to kind of start
12:58
one from scratch. and the per and the the jeweler that she went to was primarily Cartiier and Van Clee, but
13:05
this tiara that they made for her sort of symbolized the new Monaco and it features the Monaco uh royal colors
13:12
which are red and white, rubies and diamonds. Um so it's a very iconic piece, very important to Monaco's
13:17
history and I'm uh I'm surprised that uh it's lent out as much as it is. Um I
13:23
would well I've given up I've given up for Charlene ever wearing it so at least I got to
13:29
experience it. Um and also the engagement ring which you know is the iconic beautiful uh 10
13:36
10 karat Cartier uh engagement ring that sort as as she did with many things set
13:42
off a trend for larger engagement rings. One thing that annoyed me was it was
13:47
such a beautiful stone. I couldn't video it properly because it was too sparkly.
13:54
That is such a pity. Such a such a first world problem.
14:00
No, I think it was one of those uh pieces which
14:05
this audio was created with podcastle.ai.
14:11
Yeah. No, I think it was one of those uh pieces which we've heard about and
14:16
researched so much, but to see in real life was I think it wasn't disappointment. It was lived up to the
14:21
hype. Definitely. Yeah. So we can move on to the next bit
14:26
which is um Shik Hamosa's iconic Cardier bracelet with the famous
14:32
star of the south diamond which belonged to the Ma Rogers of Boda for over a
14:39
century and then it was sold in 2003 and Shikamosa wore it at um the wedding of
14:45
the crown prince of Jordan a few years ago and to see it on display is very special because the Alani collection
14:51
which we'll feature later on they own quite a lot of iconic cardia pieces, but
14:57
the ones they wear are rarely ever loaned out. The fact that this was is very special.
15:02
Yes, I remember you being really excited when it when she did wear it to the wedding and then to see it in in real life was was very special too.
15:09
Yes, it was lovely to see. And I think in the next slide we'll see um
15:16
later on a few more Cardier jewels that belong to the Altani collection. But first we're talking about the Cardier
15:24
Bandotar of Queen Elizabeth of Belgian which again is one of those pieces that has really become an iconic kind of
15:29
Cardier symbol and but it was belonged to the Belgian royal family until the 80s when the princess directly kind of
15:35
sold it off because her brother-in-law was part of the Cardier family and she kind of brokered a deal where it entered
15:41
the collection and it's not a part of the Belgian royal collection anymore which is a bit of a pity but the fact that it's on display all the time is
15:49
quite nice. Yes, it does feature quite heavily in the exhibitions, doesn't it?
15:55
Yeah. And it's one of those pieces that I think Queen Elizabeth was another one of those people that didn't really have
16:00
a big jewelry collection to inherit. So, this was something that she wore all the time and she was quite a fascinating
16:06
figure from the first world war all the way until the 60s and she wore this regularly. It's a big part of her um
16:15
symbol and that that is now in the collection and it is again like the rose brooch something that they promote all
16:21
the time. Yeah. And another kind of tiara that
16:27
Cardi does promote is in the next slide which is the olive wreath tiara of Princess Marie Bonapart who was the uh
16:35
wife of Prince George of Greece and she wore this tiara quite often. It was quite a versatile piece back in the day.
16:42
It could be worn with rubies and emeralds and you could put a star inside it. And she kind of got the full use out
16:48
of it. She wore this to the coronation of the queen to the wedding ball and she
16:53
really was one of the most fascinating figures cuz she worked a lot with Freud and she had she's one of those kind of
17:00
iconic figures of the 20th century. And I love that tiara. I mean it's it's takes it straight back to the roots of
17:07
you know for people who don't know tiaras do originate in ancient Greece and they were sort of laurels of olive
17:13
branches put on the heads of um I think Olympians um in ancient Greece so it's a beautiful
17:20
combination of ancient Greece modern Greek princess diamond tiaras symbolism
17:27
it's fantastic I love this piece lovely lovely and this is one of those pieces that is so iconically Cardier and
17:34
It's the first time I ever saw it in person and I just loved it. Yeah. So then I think we move on to the
17:40
next slide where we have two pieces that I've been really fascinated by and what
17:47
I found and something we actually discussed with Helen as well. The fact that they were displayed together. So the massive sapphire originally belonged
17:54
to Queen Marie of Romania and her husband bought it from Cardier in the
18:00
early 1920s and she wore it all the time. And then later on the 60s it was apparently bought from the Romanian
18:06
royal family by a Greek millionaire and given to Queen Frederrico of Greece who was the aunt of the then king of
18:13
Romania. So it kind of remained in the extended family for quite a long time. At the same time beside it we have the
18:20
Cardier diamond sutar and sapphire sutur of Princess Victoria Molita which she
18:26
sold in the 20s to Queen Marie's daughter um Queen Elizabeth of Greece.
18:32
And this is one of those pieces that was uh we knew had been taken out of Romania and Queen Elizabeth wore it in the 50s,
18:38
but no one really knew where it kind of ended up. And I think it appeared at some exhibition a few years ago. This is
18:44
the first time we kind of were able to see it in real life. And it's just spectacular, especially that massive uh
18:52
cabashon sapphire pendant. Yeah. No, it's actually it's an amazing piece. Um, and I've always had a bit of
18:58
a soft spot for Victoria Mita, also known as Ducky. Um, her her biography is
19:05
fantastic if anyone wants to read it. But yeah, this piece of jewelry has always fascinated me cuz yeah, as you
19:11
say, we knew it had ended up with um, Elizabeth of Romania, but we didn't know what had happened afterwards. But
19:17
thankfully, it wasn't broken up and it's been been looked after by Cartier. Yeah. which it really is a miracle if
19:24
you think about all the other jewels that were broken up, taken apart, but it's very special to
19:30
see this. And um and one of the things that I think it wasn't very apparent,
19:35
but for real jewelry lovers like us, we kind of made the connection that it basically
19:41
belonged two sisters and then it ended up in the same family. So that's very
19:46
special in the long term to see kind of how that was taken into consideration when putting it on display. It was one
19:51
of those if you know you know. Exactly. No, this was I think one of my highlights of this wishing to see these
19:58
both these jewels together especially that satur. Yeah. And then we move on to the next bit
20:04
which has the jewels of the Maharajas and the highlight of which I think is the patala necklace and that is really
20:12
spectacular like it is out of this world massive but it's just a replica isn't it? Yeah.
20:18
Well, the main diamonds are replicas, but I think the smaller bits are all still the real thing.
20:24
Oh, I thought they were replicas. Oh, well, we'll have to go and have a look at that one again. The largest diamonds, um, they were
20:29
taken out and sold off quite a long time ago. And I think the choker is still real. And
20:35
is real. Yeah. Yeah. And that was I I believe it was acquired from the Patella Royal family
20:41
around a decade ago. So, that remained with them. There's a lot of controversy about this necklace
20:46
and every time it kind of comes out people have lots of opinions about it that it was stolen or it was looted and
20:54
stuff like that but it's it was made in 28 by Cardier and worn by the Maharajas
21:00
of Patala until 1947 when the independence happened and there's a
21:05
partition of India after that um the Indian
21:10
this audio was created with podcastle.ai AI, there was a partition of India. After
21:17
that, um, the Indian government took over the Kingdom of Patiala and the
21:23
necklace mysteriously went missing. And so online, if you ever search this up,
21:28
you're going to see all sorts of people. And he claims that it was stolen by the British when they were leaving India and
21:34
all sorts of things. But the real reason it went missing on paper was because the Maharaj did not want to hand this
21:40
necklace over to the Indian government. So they declared it missing and then at the same time there were lots of issues
21:46
with kind of family disputes and inheritance issues. So they quietly took
21:51
out the big diamond and sold them off discreetly and then by the 80s just kind of the shell of the necklace with all
21:57
the big diamonds removed was found at a London antique shop by someone uh working for Cardier and then they bought
22:04
it back and restored it. So the history of that is quite fascinating but if you
22:09
kind of look it up on a lot of spaces there you'll find it's very fractious piece because people have opinions on it
22:15
often kind of without any justification. Yes. So please make sure you read the article on it on the royal watcher.
22:22
Exactly. So, uh, this is one of those pieces. And then also, um, it's not Cardier, but if
22:30
you look at the picture of the Maharaja wearing so many diamonds, there's a big kind of diamond necklace that's
22:36
suspended, um, kind of on the side of his chest. And that is a necklace that
22:41
was bought from the estate of Empress Oceani. So, it is one of the kind of private
22:47
collection. And look at the size of those diamonds. So yeah, it is the Piala collection was
22:53
absolutely massive and I feel a kind of special connection to them because one of my great-grandfathers was a court
22:59
here at the court of Maharaja and so I imagine him kind of seeing all this
23:04
in person. Wow, that must have been very special. Very. And we move on to the next bit which is
23:11
the jewels of the Maharaj of Noanagar. And these are kind of again some of the most iconic Cardier jewels. That uh
23:19
necklace in between that was recreated for Oceans 8. Yeah, that was that was that's a replica, guys. Don't get don't get
23:25
excited. It's not the original one. And then we have the um necklace beside
23:32
the ruby one that was worn by Gloria Guinness at um the famous Bahal in the 1960s. And we have that um turban
23:40
ornament which was worn by the Qatari shika at the coronation of king Charles. So it's kind of a mix of such iconic
23:49
jewels created for Nanagar is a very small state in a very kind of backward part of India and the fact that they had
23:56
such a magnificent collection of jewelry and commissioned so much and I think the collaboration between the Maharaja and
24:02
Cardier especially for the diamond necklace that is such a kind of special story that they collected the two
24:08
diamonds together for the sake of making this necklace and it was uh really kind of it was an existence I from 38 until
24:16
the 50s and then we know it was kind of very crudely broken up by the family and all the big diamond and sold off because
24:23
no one really needed the they had to kind of disperse the collection. So the
24:28
fact that Cardier has been able to kind of maintain and preserve and bring together because the ser and the other
24:34
jewels they're often exhibited card exhibitions. So the fact that they're still in existence and come together
24:40
that's very special to see. Yeah. And then we move on to the next
24:47
bit which is the kind of one of the most um pieces that I feel really special
24:52
collection with which is the Duchess of Devincshire's Cartier Opal Tiara. This was something that I had researched
24:59
quite a bit over the years. um it was worn by the Duchess of Devonshar who was
25:05
the first mistress of the robe as the late queen and she wore it as a necklace as a tiara sometimes as broches and
25:11
there's lots of contemporary reports of her uh finding out that u she like
25:17
talked to the press that the opals are so delicate that sometimes and under harsh lights she often like just reaches
25:23
up and touch touches them and she's like are they still there or have they kind of dissolved into the lights because she
25:29
was because opals are such delicate stone. So, there's kind of such lore about it. And then I wrote an article on
25:35
it, I think, in 2018 or 19. And I made the connection that it was worn by her
25:41
daughter, Lady Elizabeth, who was one of Princess Margaret's lady in waiting. And then it was also worn by the sister of the Duke of Argyle at the Caledonian
25:48
Ball a few years ago. So, the fact it was kind of still in use. And then I remember uh worked a bit with the
25:55
curator at Chzsworth to kind of research a bit more about this piece and find out
26:00
uh about it. But now that it's on display, that's very special and I kind of feel a bit of a connection that I may
26:06
have had a part in kind of promoting the TR and making the story of it public. Yeah, it was funny enough that was the
26:12
the piece I think you were most excited about when the when the photos first started coming out. You said it was the
26:17
Devonshire. They've got the Devon Cherobi. Yeah, it was something I think like I
26:23
have a special connection to it. So, I felt uh in a sense involved even though I'm sure didn't really put that into
26:30
consideration. Yeah. But it was uh very special to see even though it's not the most kind of
26:35
beautiful piece and I'm opal is one of my birthstones, but I really do dislike it. So, uh but it was I think the um
26:44
symbolism and the story of it as a tiara that was very special. So that's why it was so
26:50
exciting. Perfect. And then I think the exhibition starts with kind of one of the most iconic RDA tiaras which is the
26:57
Manchester tiara that is a part of the VNA's permanent collection. And it
27:02
really is such a massive piece uh and one of the most iconic Cardier jewels I
27:07
think created in the Bellac era. It's massive but it's not my favorite. I've never been a fan.
27:15
I don't like the design either. It's just massive for the sake of being massive. Yeah.
27:20
It is lovely to see when you go to the BNA jewel room, but it's not really among the highlights there, is it?
27:27
No. Yeah. But it's a nice kind of introduction to the exhibit when you enter in and see
27:34
kind of the um kind of a joint venture between CA and the VNA to start with
27:39
this. So, that was quite lovely. Yeah. And wasn't wasn't I think the reason it was chosen to be I could be
27:45
wrong, but wasn't the reason it was chosen to start the exhibition was because it represented the three
27:51
branches of Cartiier because obviously the Duchess of Manchester was American. Um but she was an English duchess but
27:58
the tiara was made in Paris and Cartiier famously had London, Paris, New York as
28:03
branches. Exactly. So Oh, I did get that right. Okay. Yes, you got that perfect. No, it it
28:11
really brought together, I think, the different elements of the exhibition. This audio was created with
28:17
Podcastle.ai. Perfect. No, it it really brought
28:22
together, I think, the different elements of the exhibition and what they were trying to highlight, which was the relationship between the three brothers
28:28
and then at the same time the PNA and then it's also the cardio
28:33
jewels. So, it ticked all those boxes. That's why I was chosen to start the exhibit.
28:38
Mhm. But it's something I think we've seen this char so many times we weren't sure by it. So that is part of the
28:45
reason those never seen it they might find it a lot more spectacular than we did. So
28:51
yeah, but this was another one of kind of the dual highlights. And then we move on to the next bit which has So here we
28:58
have the Cardi Essex Tiara which I think lived up to the hype because it's the first time I ever saw it in person. But
29:04
this is another one of those iconic Cardier pieces that it was created in 1902 for the Countest of Essex who was
29:10
again another American who married the British aristocracy and she um was actually never pictured wearing it. And
29:17
the next coronation was worn by her stepdaughter-in-law and then it was famously worn by Clementine Churchill at
29:23
the Queen's coronation in 53 which was um kind of where it got so much fame and
29:29
then it was worn by the countest of Essex's daughter in the late 50s in the '90s was worn by the crown prince of
29:35
Romania and most recently the tiara is worn by Rihanna for a magazine shoot along with this Cardier choker. So this
29:42
has become again one of those iconic Cardier pieces and then it was really spectacular and the way it's displayed I
29:49
think really showed it off to its best light. Yeah, it was an amazing display. It was sort of um suspended in dry ice but it
29:57
looked like fog. Um yeah and the background was uh sort of stars. It was
30:03
really interesting way to to display it. Yeah. Which is very different from the way the other TRS are put on display.
30:09
So, I really like that kind of the contrast from the others. Yeah. And again, I think this is one of
30:15
those pieces that is also really massive and just an iconic kind of Cardier design from the same era as the
30:21
Manchester Tiara, but this one kind of has a bit more kind of finesse and delicate. The design is much more
30:27
delicate whereas that one kind of just feels really big and ming big. Yeah, I know what you mean.
30:33
Yeah, know this is lovely to see. And then we move on to the next bit which is
30:38
one of my favorite jewels. So the Martianness of Butes Cardier Emerald Necklace. And this is something that
30:45
I've seen like I think three or four times now. But this is again something that I keep coming back to especially
30:50
that massive emerald and the way it's suspended this tiara. That's I think if
30:56
there's any cardia jewel that I'd save up a lot to buy, this would be one of it.
31:02
And it also has a matching tiara now. Yes, it does in Malaysia of both places.
31:09
It's uh lovely and again one of my favorite pieces. This is I think this
31:14
kind of ends the main bit and then we can go on the next slide. And um this is
31:21
now moving on to the non-royal jewel. And I mean I know Sam doesn't really like tot jewels at all. This is kind of
31:28
one of my favorites. Uh, it belonged to Daisy Fellows who was I think she was the editor of Vogue or she was a big
31:34
socialite back in the 30s up until the 50s and um she commissioned this Cardier
31:42
tutti frutti necklace in the 30s. It was worn by Princess Caroline of Monaco in
31:48
the '9s and then most recently by the princess of Jaipur uh I think last year or earlier this year for a photo shoot.
31:55
And this is I think it's not I think the mix of stones and especially the
32:00
sapphires are a bit too heavy to be a pretty piece. But it is very striking and it's a kind of statement piece.
32:08
It's striking. I'll give you that. But I'm not a fan. Yeah. You're not a fan. It is. Uh I
32:13
think the craftsmanship and the different stones are beautiful. I think together it's probably not the best.
32:20
Yeah. And then this is kind of ending on a slightly non-royal note at the end of
32:27
it. Yeah. And then this was our one of the glimpses from our kind of special
32:34
display with Queen Aziza and Helen looking at the tiaras. But I wanted to
32:39
um kind of use the opportunity to ask kind of what were your overall thoughts on this exhibition, Sam? and kind of did
32:44
you think that it lived up to the hype and it was as spectacular as as kind of people were saying or do you think could
32:51
have been something could have been different? Oh no, it definitely lived up to the hype. I mean this is sort of the largest
32:57
exhibition of Cartio Jewels in London in I think 30 years.
33:03
I could be wrong on that, but it was it's a one of those once in a-lifetime exhibitions. um the pieces that they
33:10
brought together, you know, like we said at the beginning, the royal loans they were able to obtain, the heritage pieces
33:17
from the Cartier collection, they were outstanding. Um and the way the
33:22
exhibition was displayed was amazing. You know, you went through the history and then you went through the designs and we haven't shown it here, but
33:29
there's an amazing um there's a whole section on the clocks that Cartiier
33:34
made. Um and Cartier and the watches and the watches and you know they are very as well as good jewelers are
33:41
amazing uh watch makers. So that was fascinating as well. Um yeah no I
33:47
wouldn't have changed anything about this this exhibition. I mean you know who who doesn't want more tiaras more is
33:53
more. Um but it's fantastic and you know kudos to Helen and the VNA for managing
33:59
to put on such an amazing exhibition. Yes. and inviting us to come see it cuz that I think our first visit was also a
34:05
press visit. And then the second one where we got the private tour that was I think this it's going to stay with us
34:11
even if we get many private tours in the future. The first one I think will stay with us forever and that makes it so
34:18
much more special especially for the fact that so many of the iconic Cardier jewels are on display. We got to see everything and then discuss stuff in
34:25
detail and that is an experience that will stay with me forever. Yes. Me as well.
34:30
Yeah. And I think we move on to the next slide which is basically um the final bit. We're just uh want to say thank you
34:39
to everyone for listening and I think we had just an amazing experience and the
34:45
exhibition I believe runs until the end of November. So if you have the time we'd recommend go seeing it
34:51
and if not they had a beautiful catalog um book of the exhibition. So we'd encourage you if you can't make it
34:57
please do buy the book. Yeah, because it really is special and you'll not regret
35:02
that. Wonderful. So, thank you again, Sam, for
35:07
um joining us today and and discussing this special and I think we're looking forward to going see it again in a few
35:14
weeks. We are. Lovely. All right. Bye. Bye. that.
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