The Petite Crown of Queen Victoria

Queen Victoria wearing her small crown.

Queen Victoria wore the Imperial State Crown until the death of her husband Prince Albert in 1861. He was the love of Victoria's life.  Ever since her husband's death, Victoria went into a deep state of mourning, and would wear nothing but black for the rest of her life.  She refused to make appearances in public. Eventually in 1870 the government wanted Victoria back out in public but she would not wear the Imperial State Crown.  Part of the reason was that she would be unable to wear it with her mourning veil.  Victoria said that the crown was too heavy as well.

This is to show how tiny the crown is.

As a solution to her complaints, the government made a small crown as a replacement.  This crown would be able to sit on top of her mourning veil. In the end Victoria was happy, as well as the government. The veil showed that she was a widow, while the crown still showed that she was the queen.  The crown was made by R & S Garrard & Company. This tiny crown also mimicked her size, as the queen was roughly 5 feet tall. The crown is 3.7 inches high and 3.4 inches wide, covered with 1,300  diamonds from the queen's personal collection.  It was considered acceptable for a woman in mourning black to wear diamonds.

Queen Alexandra wearing the small crown.

The first time the crown was worn was on February 9th, 1871 at the State Opening of Parliament in Westminster.  After Queen Victoria died, the crown was given to the British Parliament. The crown had been passed down to Queen Alexandra (whom I was named after) and then to Queen Mary.  In 1937 King George VI put the crown on display in the Tower of London, although the crown is property of the queen.

Quick Myths: Garnet!

Cabachon-Cut Garnets

Garnet is the birthstone that represents the month of January.  They come in a wide range of colors, including all colors except blue.  There most common color is a purplish red that comes from Austria and Hungary.  The fine green ones, Demantoids, are mostly found in the Ural Mountains of Russia.  Other garnets can be found all over the world, including Australia, Argentina, South Africa, Brazil, Switzerland, Tanzania, Myanmar, and also Arizona in the United States. The word Garnet comes from the Latin word "granatus" which means grain. The stone's luster is very high but its transparency is often flawed, even in very clear stones.  The cabochon cut is frequently uses with garnets.

Demantoid garnet and diamond ring.

Garnets are stones that are surrounded by myths and lore.  Garnets were believed to ward off evil and by absorbing the negative energy, curse, or evil eye the stone would turn darker.  Garnets were used as gifts between good friends because if you gave a garnet to someone it would guarantee that you would meet again.  They are thought to help with blood and heart disorders.
  

Garnet in matrix.

Garnets have been a part of different types of cultures as well. The earliest recorded use of stones in jewelry dates back all the way to 3100 BC.  The Egyptians used them as talismans and amulets and were buried with their dead.  Legends say that a large garnet led the way for Noah's Ark. Garnet also could have been on one of the carbuncles on the Israelite's high priest breast plate. In the Native American culture it is believed that garnets cured depression and warded off nightmares.

Quick Myths: Zircon!

Zircon is the birthstone for September.  No one knows for sure where the zircon got its name, but possibly it could come form the Arabic "zarkun" which means red colored, or from the Arabic word "zargun" which means gold colored.  Many people get zircon confused with cubic zirconia but they are completely different stones.  Zircon is a mined stone, whereas cubic zirconia is a man-made zircon.  Zircon has a high refractive index.  Most of the time, zircon is heat-treated, which produces many colors.  Zircons are most often seen with a blue color and while there are real blue zircons, there are not enough for the commercial market and that is why they are heat-treated.

Heat
Treated

Zircon can be used as a talisman to guard travelers from either wild animals or a snake's bite.  It can also stop bleeding if one wears it as an amulet.  Zircon helps women to give birth easily.  It can improve memory and mental abilities.  Zircon in the Middle Ages was also thought to drive away plaques and evil spirits.  They were thought to bring wisdom and honor.


Zircon is considered  a gemstone of exquisite beauty.  Its high refractive index makes it sparkle.  It was used as the "poor man's" diamond in the 18th and 19th century. Zircon comes in all colors and their sparkle make them highly desirable.  Most Zircon comes from India, Sri. Lanka, and Vietnam.  

Anyone owning a true zircon is lucky indeed.

The Shah Diamond

Another famous diamond is the Shah Diamond.  It is one of the most famous stones in history.  It was found in 1450 in Central India.  It was created for the Nizam Shahi court in Ahmednagar, which is the largest district in the state of Maharashtra.  It is a light, yellowish brown color and incredibly clear.  It is a large stone at 88.7 carats.  Nizam had the first inscription put on one of the facets of the stone in 1591. Nizam's grandson Shah Jehan, who loved stones, added a second inscription in 1641.  Jehan's son who was named Aureng- Zeb was the next person to inherit the diamond.  He put the diamond above his throne.  Until 1738 the Diamond Shah was held in Delhi.  When India was attacked in 1738 the stone was taken back to Persia (Iran).  In 1829 a Russian diplomat was killed in Tehran, Persia and the Russians demanded punishment.  The Shah's grandson, Khosrow Mirza went to St. Petersburg to give the Shah Diamond as a peace offering.  Therefore, the Shah Diamond now rests in the Kremlin in Russia.

Quick Myths: Topaz!

Imperial Topaz

Topaz is the birthstone for November.  According to Pliny, the Greek scholar, he named topaz after the Island of Topazos in the Red Sea.  However, it is likely that the name came from the Sanskrit word "tapas" which means fire.  Topaz can be found in all kinds of colors, such as blue, pink, colorless, brown, green, but yellow being the most common. Imperial topaz is yellow, pink, or a pink-orange.  Topaz are found in Sri Lanka, Brazil, Pakistan, Russia, and many other countries that have fluorite and cassiterite.    

Topaz was colored with the golden glow of the sun god Rah, according to the Egyptians.  They also believed, if worn as an amulet,  it would protect from injury.  The Romans related topaz with Jupiter, their version of a sun god.  The Romans also thought it had the power to improve eyesight.  The Greeks thought it would increase strength and also aid in emergencies by making its wearer invisible.  It was considered to heal physical and mental disorders and even prevent death during the Middle Ages.  

The Sapphire

The Sapphire is the birthstone for the month of September.  It is an exquisite stone that can be in many different colors but is predominantly known for its rich, intense blue, which is the most valuable. Sapphires have for a long time represented truth, sincerity, and faithfulness.  They have the ability to detect purity and faith, which is why medieval-era church officials chose this stone to decorate rings and scepters

 The Ancient Persians believed that the earth was placed upon an enormous sapphire and that it's reflection colored the sky.  Archaic folklore claims that sapphires bring about spiritual enlightenment and inner peace upon the wearer and also serves as a protection from harm. If the wearer of a sapphire was faced with a grand obstacle the sapphire was to determine the correct decision the wearer should make.
Sapphires were thought to have great medicinal powers. There was a time where it was thought to remove all impurities and foreign matter from the eye. Sapphires were also powerful talisman and a guiding star for travelers of all kinds.

 Moses was given the ten commandments on tablets of sapphire, which made sapphire one of the most sacred gemstones.

Mysteries From the Amber Room

The Amber Room has quite the amazing story and history behind it. The Amber room started as part of the Charlottenburg Palace in Prussia for King Friedrich Wilhelm I.  The construction started in 1701 and concluded in 1709. Andreas Schluter, the German baroque scholar, came up with the idea and design of the Amber Room and Gottfried Wolfman a Danish amber craftsman constructed the room.  Wilhelm I built it becuase his second wife Sophie Charlotte pleaded with him to build it.

Forming an alliance with Russia, Wilhelm I gave the Amber Room to Tsar Peter the Great, who after on a visit, longingly sought after it.  In 1755 the Russian Tsarina Elizabeth had the Amber Room moved and placed in the Winter Palace. It was then later moved again to Catherine's Palace.  She had a new design for the room from her Italian Court Architect Bartolemo Rastrelli and therefore sent for more Baltic Amber from Frederick II the Great to fill it out.

This is where the Amber Room had rested until the Germans invaded Russia in 1941.  Hitler had relayed the message that he wanted the Amber Room brought back to Germany.  The Russians, fearing this, tried to dismantle the Amber Room but they found the amber too brittle to remove.  Just as the Germans got to St.Petersburg, they dismantled the Amber Room.  No one knows how they did it or how much damage was done to the amber.

According to reports, the amber was placed in hundreds of boxes and shipped out of St. Petersburg harbor.  From St. Petersburg, no one really knows where the amber went.  Some people believe it was shipped up to the Scandinavian countries or Austria and was purposely sunk.  The water shouldn't hurt the amber and the Nazis probably thought they would retrieve it after the war was over.  Unfortunately, the amber remains hidden to this day.  Many ships and treasure seekers continue to search but there has been no success as of yet.  The Amber Room remains one of the worlds unsolved mysteries.

There is an interesting postscript to this story.  In 2003, at the request of the Russian government, a second amber room was created.  It is remarkable copy but it is minus the semi-precious stones and some of the gold leaves.  If the old panels were still in Catherine's Palace, it is estimated their value to be around 140 million dollars.  It is no wonder that the Amber Room has been called the 8th wonder of the world!  I have been fortunate to visit the Amber Room in 2005 and it was so beautiful that it was hard to comprehend that the entire room was made up of amber!  I was so lucky to see this in person.