The Chaumet Tiara, With Diamonds and a Central Emerald
Let’s start with the historical tiara and the real woman who wore it wondrously. The owner of this famous jewel—still worn today by the women of the Luxembourg royal family —did not seem destined to become a grand duchess. Born on January 23, 1896, Charlotte was the second child of William IV, Grand Duke of Luxembourg, and Infanta Marie Anne of Portugal. Her father, who became Grand Duke in 1905, died in 1912. At that time, his eldest daughter, Maria Adelaide, ascended to the throne—a succession made possible by the abolition of the Salic Law, which had restricted the line of succession to males only.
Maria Adelaide of Luxembourg, however, was not cut out for that role. She suffered greatly from internal political conflicts, compounded by the occupation of Luxembourg by German troops in August 1914—which resulted in the violation of the country’s neutrality and the threat of annexation to Belgium. Considered too lenient toward the Germans, Marie-Adelaide abdicated in January 1919 in favor of her sister, Charlotte. In November of that same year, the new Grand Duchess took a husband, Prince Felix of Bourbon-Parma. It was the prince consort himself who commissioned Chaumet to create the tiara, which was reportedly intended as a Christmas gift for his wife in 1926.
Charlotte, the Grand Duchess of Luxembourg, wearing the famous Chaumet tiara.
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Prince Felix of Bourbon-Parma sent a set of antique jewels from the grand ducal family to the Parisian jewelry house. Among them was a striking 45-carat pear-shaped cabochon emerald. It had been a gift from Emperor Franz Joseph of Austria in 1859 to the House of Nassau-Weilburg, which would later rule Luxembourg. The result was an Art Deco masterpiece of jewelry, featuring a platinum setting studded with diamonds and the emerald taking centerstage thanks to the tiara’s pointed shape.
The tiara immediately became a favorite of Charlotte’s, who loved to wear it sloping down over her forehead like a headband—so much so that it became a rather recognizable element of her style (contemporary royals, on the other hand, wear it as if it were a small crown). During those years, the Grand Duchess’s reputation solidified; as one of the very few women on the throne, she worked to modernize the country, which had gained independence a century earlier. In 1940, Hitler invaded Luxembourg, but the Grand Duchess refused to submit to the führer and left the capital. This strategic move undermined the Nazis’ ability to use the monarchy to legitimize their occupation.
