These sparkling diamonds and emerald tiaras are modeled and named after the old Russian headdress.
At official functions, one can see European royalty wearing tiaras that resemble an old Russian headdress called kokoshnik. In Russia, empresses and grand duchesses wore this type of tiara from Catherine the Great during the second half of the 18th century. Outside Russia, fashion for tiare Russians developed thanks to Queen Alexandra, wife of King Edward VII and sister of the Russian Empress Maria Feodorovna, wife of Alexander III. Some of these tiaras still contain the word “kokoshnik” in their official name, although in fact they never belonged to any members of the Russian royal family (click here to find out more about what happened to Romanov’s tiara after the 1917 revolution).
Queen Alexandras Kokoshnik Tiara
A famous piece of jewelry belonging to Queen Elizabeth II is the diamond Kokoshnik Tiara, with its unique rays of white and yellow gold. It was this ornament that inspired the “Russian style” trend in jewelry outside of Russia.
Queen Alexandra and Mary of Teck on Russian Kokoshnik.
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Tiara has a fascinating history of origin. In 1888, when Queen Alexandra and King Edward VII celebrated their silver wedding anniversary, waiting ladies wanted to give her a particularly remarkable gift. Alexandra asked them for an exact copy of the diamond tiara her sister had in Russia. The ladies donated their diamonds and ordered the tiara from the Garrard & Co. jewelry store. Like most Russian tiaras, it can be worn as a necklace, this type of ornament is called a fringe tiara. Alexandra was very pleased with the gift and often wore it at official functions and called it her Russian Kokoshnik.
Queen Elizabeth II will attend a state banquet on the first day of a state visit to Turkey on 13 May 2008 in Ankara.
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The tiara was handed down from one British queen to another, and today it is owned by Elizabeth II. Like her mother, grandmother and great-grandmother, the Queen has often used it during public appearances throughout her reign.
Queen Elizabeth II arrives for a lunch given by the Governor of Peshawar during a Commonwealth visit to Pakistan on February 4, 1961; Queen Elizabeth II dressed in full regalia 1975; Queen Elizabeth II attends a banquet in India. 1983.
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By the way, Elizabeth II has another 19th century tiara in her collection. She wore this at her wedding in 1947 and recently lent it to her granddaughter Beatrice for her wedding in 2020.
Elizabeth II’s wedding in 1947 and Princess Beatrice’s wedding in 2020.
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Although from a distance it looks like a kokoshnik tiara, it actually has a different shape and more modest design.
Greville Emerald Kokoshnik
Greville Emerald Kokoshnik.
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Another granddaughter of Elizabeth II, Princess Eugenie, also wore a coconut tiara for her wedding in 2018. The tiara, made of platinum with white and pink diamonds and huge emeralds, was created in 1919 by the French jeweler Boucheron for Margaret Greville, daughter of a Member of Parliament by the name of William McEwan.
Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank leave St George’s Chapel in Windsor Castle after their 2018 wedding.
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She bequeathed the tiara to the royal family in 1942 along with her other jewelry, and now the tiara belongs to Elizabeth II.
The Swedish aquamarine Kokoshnik
One of the most fantastic kokoshnik tiaras belongs to Sweden’s king’s sister, Princess Margaretha. It was first used in the 20th century by Margaret of Connaught, the wife of the future king Gustaf VI Adolf of Sweden. It is known that she had brought the tiara from Britain – where she came from – but there is no information about the jeweler who created it.
Princess Sibylla of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha.
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The tiara was handed over to her daughter-in-law, Princess Sibylla of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha.
Princess Margaretha, Mrs. Ambler.
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It currently belongs to her daughter, Princess Margaretha, who sometimes wears it to various social events, as well as her nephews, Princess Christina and Princess Madeleine.
Princess Madeleine participates in the Nobel Prize banquet on December 10, 2019 in Stockholm; Princess Victoria participates in the Nobel Prize ceremony on December 10, 2017 in Stockholm.
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The Romanian black steel tiara
Romanian “kokoshnik”.
The tiara for Queen Marie of Romania (Princess Marie of Edinburgh at birth) was made in 1914 by Cartier. At that time, the famous French jewelry company was experimenting with different materials and the base in the form of a coconut was made of blackened steel. The tiara is adorned with platinum, diamonds and rubies.
Queen Marie of Romania.
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Many of Queen Marie’s jewelery was lost during the First World War or sold by her children in the 1940s and 50s, after the fall of the monarchy. Eventually, the tiara was returned to Cartier and is now displayed as a museum.
The Duchess of Westminster’s Blue Enamel Kokoshnik
Blue enamel Kokoshnik.
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This unusual tiara was made by Chaumet in 1911 for Constance Edwina Cornwallis-West, wife of the Duke of Westminster. The blue enamel looks like fabric and the tiara is made of platinum and decorated with 280 forget-me-not diamonds. The tiara was sold several times at auctions, but the current duke brought it back to the family.
Constance Edwina Cornwallis-West.
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No pictures of the original owner wearing the tiara have survived.
The Countess of Rosenborg’s Garnet Kokoshnik
Garnet Kokoshnik.
This tiara was made in the 1930s by a Danish jeweler named Aage Dragsted for the wife of Prince Viggo, grandson of King Christian IX of Denmark. The couple had no children, and so the tiara was first inherited by Prince Viggo’s sister-in-law, Princess Margaretha of Sweden and later by her daughter-in-law, Countess Ruth of Rosenborg.
Countess Ruth of Rosenborg.
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After his death in 2010, this exquisite tiara with pomegranate flowers and leaves was put up for sale. It was sold in Switzerland in 2014 to an anonymous buyer.
Source: sn.dk