tsar

Alexey Pomelnikov, the art of the tsars

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Orecchini in oro, smeraldi e diamanti





The surprising works of a master of Russian jewelry: Alexey Pomelnikov ♦ ︎
Russia, for jewelry lovers, is almost a mystery: few goldsmiths are able to make themselves known in the West. Yet Fabergé’s heirs are there and have not forgotten the art of creating high-level jewels, those that combine the ability to work with precious stones and metals with imagination that can suggest pleasant and unusual shapes. It is part of this elite of masters Alexei Leonidovich Pomelnikov, owner and designer of the Jewelry Company of Alexey Pomelnikov of St. Petersburg. His biography tells of many hours spent in front of the works exhibited at the Hermitage, but also in other museums that collect the works of Russian history.

Spilla mughetto in oro e diamanti
Spilla mughetto in oro e diamanti

With this inspiration, by Pomelnikov is reinterpreting the classical canons of ancient masterpieces of art. As it is easy to guess by admiring the works of the jeweler of St. Petersburg, his pieces are produced in a limited number and are the result of a careful study of a large number of jewelry masterpieces of the late nineteenth – early twentieth century. In fact, at the time of the tsars, Russia was one of the trendsetters of European fashion. The company of Alexey Pomelnikov exists more than 20 years: the founder had given himself the task of renewing the traditions of Russian jewelry. He succeeded.

Alexey Pomelnikov
Alexey Pomelnikov
Anello in oro e diamanti
Anello in oro e diamanti
Anello in oro, smeraldo e diamanti
Anello in oro, smeraldo e diamanti
Collana con pendente gatto in oro, diamanti, smalto
Collana con pendente gatto in oro, diamanti, smalto
Orecchini tulipano in oro, smalto e diamanti
Orecchini tulipano in oro, smalto e diamanti
Orecchini in oro, smeraldi e diamanti
Orecchini in oro, smeraldi e diamanti

Orecchini in oro, zaffiri e diamanti
Orecchini in oro, zaffiri e diamanti







The adventurous story of the Tsar’s jewels sold by Sotheby’s

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I gioielli messi all'asta da Sotheby's




Tsar jewels still have charm. So at the Magnificent Jewels and Noble Jewels auction at Sotheby’s in Geneva, a sapphire and diamond brooch and matching clip earrings, smuggled out of Russia at the time of the 1917 revolution, sold for $ 850,000, against a maximum estimate of $ 500,000. They are jewels that belonged to the Romanoff family. To be precise, they belonged to the aunt of Emperor Nicholas II, the Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna (1854-1920), who entrusted her expatriation to her friend, the British antiquarian and aristocrat Albert Henry Stopford (1860-1939). of jewels in London.

I gioielli messi all'asta da Sotheby's
I gioielli messi all’asta da Sotheby’s
Often referred to as the “Queen of St. Petersburg,” the Grand Duchess was by all accounts a glittering figure who fought to maintain her status during the revolution. Albert Stopford, who was fifty-five at the time and therefore ineligible for military service, was an integral part of the St. Petersburg social scene and was the noblewoman’s intimate. The history of jewelry is quite adventurous. Dressed in workman’s clothes, Stopford secretly went to collect the jewels from the Grand Duchess’s home, the Vladimir Palace, a 360-room building on the Neva, not yet plundered by rioters. Entered by a side door and escorted by Maria Pavlovna’s eldest son, Boris, and a trusted servant, Stopford disassembled the jewels, folded them into old newspapers to protect them, and set off on the train. In three nights he reached the spa town of Kislovodsk, in the Caucasus, where Maria Pavlovna had retired to her summer villa. He then left for London on September 26, 1917, carrying 244 Maria Pavlovna jewels in a Gladstone bag, including the sapphire brooch and earrings sold at Sotheby’s auction.
Maria Pavlovna
Maria Pavlovna
It was then another two years before the Grand Duchess crossed the Russian border (reluctantly), traveling to Venice, Switzerland and finally to Paris in July 1920. Her health as a Russian noblewoman was severely compromised, however, and only a few months after her arrival. in France he died. The jewels, therefore, were inherited from her daughter, Princess Elena of Greece and Denmark (1882-1957) and then to her descendants. A in 2009 they were bought at an auction, again at Sotheby’s, by another European princely family and now resold.
La granduchessa Maria Pavlovna
La granduchessa Maria Pavlovna
Spilla e orecchini con zaffiri e diamanti
Spilla e orecchini con zaffiri e diamanti







The jewels of the tsars

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I gioielli della corona dei Romanov




It was found a rare catalog that contains 406 pictures of jewels and gems belonged to the czar of Russia.

For nearly a century, thery a mystery. But now on the jewelry that belonged to Tsar it opens a new chapter. It was indeed found one of the few surviving examples (about 20) of a vintage catalog Bolshevik, an inventory of 406 jewelery seized by the revolutionaries to the Russian royal family. The catalog dates back to 1925 and is now also available online, as other 200 other rare and historically significant books on gems and jewelry, on archive.org site. The photographs are of course in black and white, but the volume is interesting because it shows, in addition to the crown jewels are exhibited in Russian museums, including pieces have disappeared.

At this link you will find the official document.

La corona imperiale
La corona imperiale

According to Dona Dirlam, director of the Gia library, which has retrieved the rare book, in 1925-1926, the Bolshevik government has published this catalog with the idea that the Romanov jewels would never have been sold.

The jewels presented in catalog are all belonged to the czars, beginning with the reign of Peter the Great, in 1689, until the end, with the last Emperor Nicholas II, who was killed in 1917. Among the 406 treasures there are the Imperial set with the Scepter which 189 carat diamond, the imperial globe, with a sapphire of 200 carats, the Great Imperial crown, and the bridal wreath. Federico Graglia

Collana con diamanti e pietre preziose
Collana con diamanti e pietre preziose
Set con collana, bracciale e orecchini
Set con collana, bracciale e orecchini
Collana con diamanti e pietre
Collana con diamanti e pietre
La copertina del catalogo
La copertina del catalogo
Diadema principesco
Diadema principesco
Set di spille
Set di spille
Copricapo con perle e diamanti
Copricapo con perle e diamanti
Spilla appartenuta agli zar
Spilla appartenuta agli zar
I gioielli della corona dei Romanov
I gioielli della corona dei Romanov

Lo zar Nicola II e famiglia
Lo zar Nicola II e famiglia







The jewels of the Tsarina at auction

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Smeraldo taglio a pera appartenuto alla duchessa Vladimir di Russia




There is also a necklace with a large emerald that belonged to the Tsarina Catherine the Great among the Magnificent Jewels at Christie’s auction ♦ ︎

Tsar jewels have always been a myth. And in Geneva, on May 15th, among the jewels on sale at Christie’s auction, the necklace that belonged to Catherine the Great of Russia stands out, with a pear-shaped emerald. It has belonged to the Russian imperial collection for over a century. The emerald originally weighed over 107 carats and had a rectangular cut.

Collana di diamanti e smeraldo appartenuto a Caterina la Grande di Russia
Collana di diamanti e smeraldo appartenuto a Caterina la Grande di Russia

When Catherine of Russia died in 1796, her jewels were passed on to her children. And Tsar Alexander II gave the stone to the Duchess Mary of Mecklenburg-Schwerin when she married her son, Grand Duke Vladimir, in 1874. Cartier bought the stone from the Russian royal family in 1927 and in 1954 cut the pear-shaped emerald to increase its brightness. The emerald was then added to a diamond necklace purchased by the Payne Whitney family and, later, by John D. Rockefeller. The estimate is between 2.5 and 3.5 million dollars.

Lo smeraldo taglio a pera
Lo smeraldo taglio a pera

For fans of blue-blooded jewels, the auction also includes the wedding gift tiara of Federico Francesco IV, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin to his wife Princess Alexandra of Hanover and Cumberland. The tiara, made in 1904, consists of nine graduated pear-shaped aquamarines and rose-cut diamonds. The jewel is not signed, but is attributed to Fabergé.

Diadema con acquamarine appartenuto alla gran duchessa Alexandra di Macklenburg-Schwerin
Diadema con acquamarine appartenuto alla gran duchessa Alexandra di Macklenburg-Schwerin

That of the zarina is not the only great jewel that stands out in the catalog. There is, for example, a rare series of 110 natural pearls: this one is also 2.5-3.5 million. Furthermore, under the lens there is also an unmounted colored diamond of 118.05 carats which was exhibited in the auction rooms of Christie’s in London, on 9 April 2019. The diamond is estimated between 2.5 and 3, 5 million dollars. Another necklace, of emeralds and diamonds, with a less adventurous history is estimated at 1.5-2.5 million dollars.

Curious is the story of the Jonker Diamonds emerald-cut stone signed by Harry Winston. It is one of the diamonds made from a diamond, called Jonker, found on 17 January 1934, of an extraordinary weight of 726 carats. She was portrayed in a photo with the actress Shirley Temple as a child. The Jonker was the fourth largest quality diamond ever brought to light. The stone was cut into 13 pieces. The Jonker V, the diamond for sale, weighs 25.27 carats. Federico Graglia



Il diamante Jonker V di 25,27 carati
Il diamante Jonker V di 25,27 carati
L'originale Jonker tenuto in mano da Shirley Temple bambina
L’originale Jonker tenuto in mano da Shirley Temple bambina
Collana a frange con diamanti dell'Ottocento
Collana a frange con diamanti dell’Ottocento
Rara collana con 110 perle naturali
Rara collana con 110 perle naturali

Diamante fancy yellow di 71,80 carati
Diamante fancy yellow di 71,80 carati







On auction a 51-carat Russian diamond

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Il diamante Romanov a taglio rotondo, tradizionale, con 57 sfaccettature




A super Russian diamond (plus five more) dedicated to the tsars ♦ ︎
The Russian mining group Alrosa announced for November an auction for the sale of a rare collection of already cut diamonds, including a giant stone of 51.38 carats. It’s one of the biggest diamonds ever put on the market. It is a round, traditional, 57-facettes diamond with a diameter of 1 inch (2.5 inches) big about the size of a man’s eye. According to Alrosa, which is a State-controlled company, is probably the most expensive diamond produced in the history of Russian jewels. The diamond is one of the five pieces made of the 179-carat Romanov raw diamond, extracted in 2015 in one of the mines of the company in the Yakutia region, in the Far East of Russia. In intentions all diamonds should be sold together with no less than $ 10 million. The Romanov name is a dedication to Tsar Peter the Great, who built the city of St. Petersburg and the Romanov dynasty, which ruled Russia for 300 years. Federico Graglia




Il diamante è stato ricavato da una pietra grezza di 179 carati
Il diamante è stato ricavato da una pietra grezza di 179 carati

Il diamante di Alrosa ha un diametro da 1 pollice (2,5 centimetri)
Il diamante di Alrosa ha un diametro da 1 pollice (2,5 centimetri)

Il diamante Romanov a taglio rotondo, tradizionale, con 57 sfaccettature
Il diamante Romanov a taglio rotondo, tradizionale, con 57 sfaccettature