Prince Albert commissioned the Oriental Circlet tiara for Queen Victoria from Garrard, the Crown jeweler at the time. Apparently, the consort had very good taste in jewelry, and had a lot to do with the design. He Chose opals—one of his favorite stones—which he complemented with no fewer than 2,600 diamonds. Per Town & Country, in her will, Queen Victoria stipulated that the tiara could only be worn by queens and future queens.
Queen Victoria’s daughter-in-law, Princess Alexandra, swapped the opals for rubies in 1902 because she said opals brought bad luck.
While the Queen Mother was very fond of this Queen Victoria tiara and wore it with relative assiduity, her daughter only wore it once in public, on an official trip to Malta in November 2005. Since then, it has been carefully stored for 20 years. Thanks to Kate Middleton, however, the Oriental Circlet is getting time in the spotlight once again.
This article first appeared on Glamour Spain.
By Ana Serrano
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