The Youssupov jewelry

[Harumi]

The complete photograph show the third neck and head of a swan behind one of the bolshevick "agents" on the right corner of the picture on pages 322 and 323 in Geoffrey
Munn's great book Tiaras A History of Splendour, 2001.

I am currently in possession of this book (great book indeed). If anyone is interested, I can post a scan of this photograph.

[Valmont]

PLEASE... DO SO

[Jaiel]

I don't think that anyone knows what has become of the Lovers Knot tiara.  Presumably, the Soviets either sold it privately or broke it up for the stones; either way, it hasn't been seen since it was discovered by the Soviets.

There is a site with great examples of the jewels out there including the Lovers Knot tiara:
http://www.royal-magazin.de/russia.htm

[lancashireladandre]

Many of the pieces had been already dismantled by Felix before they were hidden and the loose stones taken South and then aboard. I have read somewhere- Serge Obolensky's "One man in his Time" I think- that Felix had these packets of loose diamonds stolen while in London.Felix did try to recover the gems from Moscow. Galina von Meck a neice of Tchiakovsky and daughter of a rail magnate wrote in her wonderful memoir published here in the 1960's "As I remember Them" of being enlisted in an abortive attempt. In later "hard up" years Felix must have kicked himself he hadn't taken more items south or other valuebals such as the third Rembrandt from the collection. Indeed that the foreign investments had not been all liquidated in 1914.....still as Tatiana Metternich said their financial phlight was far, far superior to almost all of the other emigree's...........

[Luke]

[Eddie_uk]

Thats an amazing photo  ! Although it does annoy me to think that was the property of the Romanovs not those horrible bolsheviks.  

[brnbg aka: liljones1968]

I may be wrong but I am pretty sure that Catherine de Medici's pearls were white and not black.  They were given to Mary Stuart by Catherine as a wedding gift and returned to Scotland with Mary.
After Mary's capture and incarceration at Lochleven, she managed to escape but sadly was obliged to leave behind some of her jewellery; the famous Medici pearls were offered for sale by the Regent, the Earl of Moray (Mary's detested half brother);  Catherine had been extremely keen to recover them but discovered that Elizabeth I had already bought them.  It is alleged that some of these pearls form part of the English Crown jewels, being set in one of the crowns (I think that it is the Imperial State Crown....)

the Yusupovs did indeed own a string of black pearls.   i don't know about the supposed Catherine de Medici connection (i think someone may be confused), but the Yusupov's black pearls had been the property of Catherine II the Great (Ekaterina II).

see one of my earlier posts in this thread (i think it may be just a few posts above this one....)

[lancashireladandre]

The picture of the Azra necklace, the Pelegrina and Zenaida's pearl earrings is from the catalogue of the Russian Exhibition held in Belgrave Square in London in 1935 in honour of the silver jubilee of George V & Queen Mary (who were both lenders and visitors).The other gems were lent from a variety of sources. The fringe tiara above was from the collection of Princess Elizabeth of Greece, Countess Toerring ( elder sister of Princess Marina,Duchess of Kent). The great diadem to the side was the much discussed sapphire creation made by Cartier in 1909 for Grand Duchess Vladimir & sold by her heirs to Marie of Romania. In the early 1950's her youngest daughter Ileana sold it in the USA and it was dismantled. The detachable centre sapphire was 137 carats. Apart from the pearls listed as the property of Princess Zenaida the Youssoupoff family had no other items of jewelry in the exhibition.

[lancashireladandre]

On November 16th an Asian private buyer paid just over 2.5 million dollars for the Regente pearl,a new world record, the previous for a single pearl being that when the Pelegrina was sold in May 1987 also by Christies,Geneva.

[Eddie_uk]

Hey, did Zenaida actually lend the the Azra necklace, the Pelegrina and pearl earrings for the exhibition? or where they no longer owned by her by that time?  

[lancashireladandre]

Hey, did Zenaida actually lend the the Azra necklace, the Pelegrina and pearl earrings for the exhibition? or where they no longer owned by her by that time?  

Yes,According to the catalogue, Zenaida lent the 3 items in 1935.By then the huge damages from MGM meant that they could be redeemed from pawn.Felix inherited them in 1939 and in his 2nd volume of memoirs mentions the trouble he had when during the occupation of Paris the nazi's sized the National Westminster bank where they were lodged in a safe deposit box. Lydia,Lady Deterding,russian wife of a founder of Shell Oil bought the Azra necklace (which had come to the Y's from Potemkin) after WW2. She lost the Azra at a party given in Paris for Princess Margaret.It was never found but other parts of the necklace plus the Polar star diamond (which she had bought from Cartier) were in the sale held in 1981 by Christies in Geneva after her death.By 1952 Felix in need of cash to finance the (ultimately successful) court case for the return of Keriolet sold the Pelegrina   to the jeweller Jean Lombard of Geneva.The earrings were no doubt those worn by Irina in later life in various photographs.It would be interesting to know the fate of the pink pearl necklace with ruby clasp that had also come from Potemkin/Catherine II which Felix salvaged and eventually was bought ( with so many other items)by Cartier.Hans Nadelhoffer's "Cartier" Thames & Hudson,originally published in 1984 tells the story of the disposal of the salvaged Youssoupoff gems in some detail. The author was in contact with Felix's daughter Countess Nicholas Sheremetev (who died in Greece in 1983)at one stage & his "second mother" Countess Rosario Zoubova (who lived in Geneva & founded a museum there)was a intimate of the family for many years.

[Eddie_uk]

Very interesting! thank you!  

[edwardcharles]

I heard the story of when Felix and Irina went to america and her jewels were confiscated i want to know what happened to the jewels, did america keep them or were they retured to russia and why did american customs confiscate them in the first palce when they knew that there might have been a chance that by returing the jewels to russia they might be sold off.

Thanks in advance

[Eddie_uk]

I read they got the jewels back when they left America!

[edwardcharles]

Have u got anymore information on this? i mean what was the point in taking the jewels then returing them