Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna of Russia's Vladimir Pearl Drop Tiara

Creation: This tiara was made by Bolin in 1874.  It was smuggled out of Russia during the 1917 Revolution by a British diplomat, Albert Henry Stopford, and in 1922 was repaired by Garrard.  In 1924, Queen Mary had Garrard adapt the tiara to use fifteen of the Cambridge emeralds, ten of which were previously part of the Dehli Durbar Tiara, as an alternative to the drop pearls.  In 1988, Garrard completely remade the frame of the tiara in silver and gold.

Grand Duchess Maria

Materials:  pearls or emeralds and diamonds set in silver and gold

Provenance:  

1. Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna of Russia
2. Princess Elena of Greece & Denmark; inherited from her mother in 1920
3. Queen Mary of the United Kingdom, bought in 1921 from Princess Elena
4. Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom, inherited from her grandmother in 1953

Queen Mary

Queen Mary

Queen Elizabeth II

Queen Elizabeth II

Links:

• The Royal Collection - Vladimir Tiara 
• The Royal Order of Sartorial Splendor - Grand Duchess Vladimir Tiara 

Photos:  The Royal Collection