Queen Victoria reigned over the United Kingdom and the British Empire for 67 years and although she spent much of her life in mourning, the young queen had a deep passion for jewellery. She established one of the first jewellery foundations with “The Heirlooms of the British Crown” and her personal collection held significant sentimental value.
For her Coronation in 1938, Queen Victoria was given a personal gift of a large number of diamonds by Sultan Mahmud of Turkey. The following year, the Queen commissioned the Crown Jeweller Rundell, Bridge & Rundell to create a necklace and earrings using some of the diamonds. Because of the provenance of the stones, Victoria referred to the set as “my Turkish diamond necklace and earrings”.
The necklace featured three diamond rosettes – one large and two smaller ones – connected to each other by three strands of diamonds. At the back, two large oval diamonds connected via two rows of diamonds to the smaller rosettes on one side, and to the clasp on the other. The clasp itself featured a massive diamond in a frame of smaller stones. The earrings were equally elaborate and featured two small rosettes connected to each other with three rows of diamonds.
Alongside a Sapphire brooch that had been given to her the day before, Victoria chose to wear her Turkish diamonds on her wedding to Prince Albert.
Victoria would wear her Turkish Diamonds to important occasions in her early reign, often pairing them with the George IV Diadem
After Albert’s premature death in 1861, Victoria went into a permanent state of mourning, rarely venturing out in public or wearing her jewels. If she did, she would only wear her most sentimental pieces. Here she is pictured wearing her Turkish Diamonds alongside her Coronation Earrings
When she died in 1901, she did not designate the Turkish Diamonds as an Heirloom of the British Crown. Instead, the set was split up, with the earrings going to Queen Alexandra.
These earrings would be inherited by he daughter, Queen Maud of Norway and are still worn by the Norwegian Queen Sonja today.
The necklace was given to her third and favourite son Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn. It was likely among the wedding gifts to his wife, Princess Louise Margaret of Prussia. The Duchess of Connaught wore the necklace to several important historic events, including two coronations: the coronation of Nicholas II in 1896, and the coronation of George V in 1911.
Nevertheless, the necklace remained with the family until it was auctioned as part of the “collection of His Grace The Duke of Fife” in July of 1970. The magnificent necklace was sold for £23,000 (between £350,000 and £450,000 in today’s money). Its current owners are unknown.