Holographic copy of Irina Yusupova's lost tiara, a wedding gift of 1914

The most emblematic Chaumet jewel connected with Russia is the sun tiara created for Nicholas II's niece Irina Alexandrovna Romanova, acknowledged as one of the most beautiful princesses in Europe.

In 1914 Irina married Felix Yusupov. The tiara was a gift from Princess Zinaida Yusupova, who had assembled for her son's bride a sumptuous wedding hamper of diamond pieces by the jewellers of the house of Chaumet. During the Revolution the Yusupovs hid some of the diamonds in the walls of their Moscow palace, among them the treasures of Irina Yusupova, which were found in 1924. Today they are kept in the Museum of Military History.

The Chaumet sun tiara, however, was lost, and its subsequent fate is unknown. That Chaumet has managed to create a holographic copy of Yusupova's tiara is in itself a considerable museum event. It looks, of course, impressive

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Holographic copy of Irina Yusupova's lost tiara, a wedding gift of 1914

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September digest: archaeological finds, exhibitions, museums, theatre and the Church

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