What jewelry did Catherine 2 wear?

Receive one of the most read articles by email once a day. Join us on Facebook and VKontakte. You can unsubscribe at any time. The Russian imperial court had a rich jewelry collection, the special pride of which was the jewelry collected by Catherine II. After the revolution, the Bolsheviks sold many of them at the famous 1927 auction in London. To this day, the fate of many jewelry remains unknown. Only occasionally do some of them surface at jewelry auctions only to end up in private collections again. In our museums we can see a very small amount of jewelry of this empress. Empress Catherine the Great The most famous jewels remaining in our country from the Empress – the Great Imperial Crown, the Orb and the Scepter – are kept in the Diamond Fund. The crown and orb were created specifically for the coronation ceremony of Catherine II. The production of these regalia was carried out by the famous court jewelers – Georg-Friedrich Eckart and Jeremiah (Jeremie) Pozier. Diamond master Jeremiah Pozier Crown of the Russian Empire. Gold, silver, diamonds, pearls, spinel 1762 Master Jeremiah Pozier Imperial power 1762 Gold, diamonds, Celonian sapphire (200 carats), diamond (46,92 carats), silver Height with cross 24 cm The scepter was made later; its pommel was decorated with the famous Orlov diamond, given to Catherine by her favorite. Scepter, 1770s Gold, silver, enamel, diamonds Catherine was famous for her love of jewelry and knew a lot about it. She had a huge number of them – necklaces, rings, brooches. During her reign, diamond jewelry came into fashion and became extremely popular.

Diamonds of Catherine II

Diamond belt with two tassels, created during the reign of Catherine II, presumably by the jeweler Louis David Duval Large diamond agraph buckle that fastened the robe of Catherine II One of two diamond bracelets from the era of Catherine II Catherine had two such bracelets, made in the style of Louis XVI. In 1927, at a London auction, having paid only 3400 pounds, they were purchased by the auction house SJ Philips. In 2006, at a Christie’s auction, their price was already $259. Monogram of Catherine II. Silver, gold, diamonds Diamond epaulets. The first two date from the beginning of the 19th century; the third is made of gold, from the era of Catherine II. Diamond fund Parure Bow-slavage and earrings of Empress Catherine II. Silver, diamonds, spinels, gold. 1764 Master Leopold Pfisterer Imperial Diamond Necklace of Catherine the Great This necklace is one of the few jewels of the Great Empress that, after the sale in 1927, began to appear at auctions.
In 1927, S.J. Phillips, owner of the auction house SJ Philips, bought this necklace and brooch-bow in separate lots. For a long time nothing was known about these jewels. As it turned out later, the necklace and brooch were combined into one – a diamond necklace with a bow. In the 80s, the necklace with a bow was sold, and its new owner was again a private collector. Once again, the necklace appeared at Sotheby’s auction in 2005 and was sold for $1,5 million. And more recently, in November 2016, it appeared again at a Geneva auction with a starting price of $5 million. Catherine the Great’s necklace – a historical treasure of the Russian Empire However, this time it was not sold – the price was too high.

Amethysts of Catherine II

In 1750, the first amethysts were found in the Urals, and they turned out to be magnificent in both color and purity. Of these, Catherine ordered herself two pairs of girandole earrings. Candlesticks made in the form of fountains were called girandoles. The earrings ordered by Catherine were also shaped like fountains with amethysts in the form of droplets. Girandole earrings. Made in the court workshops in 1760 by an unknown artist from silver and gold Girandole earrings, second pair, simpler in shape Both pairs of earrings in the 1927 sale also went to S.J. Phillips.

Emeralds of Catherine II

Catherine II was very fond of emeralds. Fortunately, not all of her jewelry with emeralds ended up in private collections; in the Armory, you can admire the emerald earrings that the empress wore. Emerald earrings of Catherine II. Armouries. Moscow Catherine also had a wonderful brooch with a 70-carat Colombian emerald, which has no analogues either in size or quality. Emerald brooch of Catherine II After the death of his mother, the brooch went to Paul I, and he gave it to his wife Maria Feodorovna. Subsequently, the brooch ended up with her relatives from the Hohenzollern family. In the 2000s, they sold this brooch at Christie’s for $1. Emerald necklace of Catherine II Catherine gave this necklace, complete with earrings, to John Hobbard, the Earl of Buckinghamshire, one of her favorites, who served at Catherine’s court for three years. To this day, this necklace is owned by the Hobbar family, although they have twice tried to sell it at auction. Emerald necklace of Catherine II A cameo with a profile carved on a Colombian emerald is also one of the unique decorations of Catherine II. After all, emerald is a very hard stone, and the master had to work hard to make this cameo. It was also sold in 1927 and is now in a private collection. Emerald cameo with a portrait of the Empress The Diamond Fund houses another interesting decoration of Catherine II – a pendant with tourmaline carved in the shape of a bunch of grapes. Pendant with pink tourmaline in the shape of a bunch of grapes, approximately 260 carats. Gold, emeralds, enamel For a long time this stone was considered a ruby, and it is called “Caesar’s Ruby”. According to legend, one of the first owners of this stone was Julius Caesar, who received it as a gift from Cleopatra. In fact, it turned out that it was not a ruby, but a very rare tourmaline-rubellite. One of the last owners of this stone was the Swedish king Gustav III, who presented it to the Russian empress in 1777. Especially for those who are not indifferent to precious stones, a story about the most famous emeralds and the most valuable jewelry made from this stone. Did you like the article? Then support us click: Alexey Antropov. Catherine II with coronation regalia. In her right hand the empress holds a scepter. 1765

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Emphasis on earrings

Russian tsars and queens loved and collected jewelry. Today we will talk about the “cameo illness” of Catherine the Great, which almost devastated the treasury.

Cameos

The cameos and gems bought by Catherine are the true pride of the State Hermitage’s jewelry treasuries. The Empress participated in the auction for the inheritance of the Duke of Orleans and offered the best price. Thanks to this, at the end of the 1780s, almost one and a half thousand cameos and intaglios were brought to St. Petersburg, exhibited in specially ordered display cases. In addition to aesthetic pleasure, Catherine, who successfully played the role of an enlightened monarch, considered them as a teaching aid for Russian masters. After all, there were carved stones here, from antiquity to the 18th century – the whole history of the development of this type of art! Catherine was one of the largest collectors of the era. Not without self-irony, she liked to call her passion “kamo disease.” And, indeed, the empress’s legacy amounted to more than 10000 first-class gems (as Catherine herself reported in a letter to one of her addressees). The passion was so great that she even amused herself by making cameos, which were then framed and presented to those close to her. True, she worked with papier-mâché, a more pliable material than stone.

Collection

The Empress also collected minerals and had a significant collection of jewelry snuff boxes. Among them there are also unique ones, for example, on the lid of the “Stones of the East” snuff box (now kept in the Hermitage), a diagram depicting the structure of the world according to Plato is laid out with the help of precious stones. The core, of course, is decorated with the queen’s profile. Catherine was given many jewelry gifts. She, in turn, also loved to give gifts to her favorites. Perhaps the most famous “present” is a giant almost 200-carat diamond presented to her by Grigory Orlov (this is the official version). In fact, the ambitious empress bought the stone, at that time the largest diamond in Europe, herself, spending an astronomical sum on it, and, obviously, did not want to draw attention to this compromising fact by presenting Orlov as the donor. He did take part in this, but in the role of an intermediary. It is this stone that forms the central part and main decoration of the imperial scepter, with which, starting from Catherine’s era, all emperors were crowned.

Diamond Room

Of all the stones, the Empress especially loved diamonds. She had a lot of jewelry with these stones, including even diamonds. belts and epaulettes! Catherine always kept her jewelry with her. For this purpose, the so-called Diamond Room was allocated in her personal chambers. Catherine also willingly wore emeralds and had a couple of sets with aquamarines. This stone was a novelty then, because its first Ural deposits had just been discovered. See also

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Heritage

Ekaterina ordered jewelry both individually and in sets. She had several parures made by the court jeweler of Austrian origin, Leopold Pfisterer. In particular, the Lala parure (that is, with red stones, spinels) has survived to this day. Many of the pieces were sold off by the Soviet government and continue to turn up at auctions. So, five years ago, Sotheby’s tried to sell a necklace made from a diamond set that once belonged to the empress, but the price turned out to be prohibitively high, and there were no buyers for it. But the most valuable jewelry still remains in our country and is stored in state treasuries. These truly legendary things can be seen in the Armory Chamber, the Diamond Fund (including a scepter with the same “Orlov”) and in the Hermitage.

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