Vladimir Emerald Necklace 

Today marks the 170th Anniversary of the Birth of Grand Duchess Vladimir, who was born on this day in 1954! The Mecklenburg-Schwerin Duchess who married a Grand Duke, becoming an imperious Society Hostess and the last member of the Family to escape Russia, the Grand Duchess possessed a legendary jewellery collection, which included the spectacular Vladimir Emerald Necklace!

Vladimir Tiara | Vladimir Sapphire Kokoshnik | Vladimir Fringe Tiara | Vladimir Emerald Necklace | Vladimir Ruby Kokoshnik | Diamond Rivière | Vladimir Pearl Earrings | Vladimir Emerald Brooch | Emerald Earrings | Sapphire Earrings | Girandole Earrings | Bow Brooch

When Duchess Marie of Mecklenburg-Schwerin married Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich of Russia, the third son of Tsar Alexander II of Russia, in 1874, she received numerous spectacular jewels including her Vladimir Tiara, Vladimir Fringe Tiara, Diamond Rivière, and several emeralds, including this spectacular necklace highlighted with a massive 100-carat hexagonal cut emerald as well as a massive step cut 107 carat Emerald from Catherine the Great.

A few months after her marriage, Grand Duchess Vladimir wore the central hexagonal emerald in the centre of her Diamond Fringe Tiara for a spectacular Costume Ball at the Vladimir Palace in St Petersburg in February 1875, which was described by Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich:

“Wonderful Vladimir’s costume ball. There were many beautiful costumes. Minnie (future Empress Maria Feodorovna) was in a pink ‘domino’ dress, Maria (Grand Duchess Vladimir) – was a priestess of the sun, gorgeous. Papa (Emperor Alexander II) was Peter the Great, Sasha (future Emperor Alexander III) was a hetman, Vladimir (host of the ball) was the Imperial guard of Empress Elizabeth Petrovna. We danced until 5 a.m.! The big hall was charming. It was very fun, and very lively. Went to bed around 6 am!”.

Grand Duchess Vladimir was the leading St Petersburg Society Hostess for over four decades and wore her Emerald in numerous configurations, including on her costume for another legendary Ball held at the Vladimir Palace in 1883,  with the theme ‘Russian History and Epics.

On January 25, 1883, Grand Duke Vladimir held a ball with the theme ‘Russian History and Epics’ where he and Maria chose to dress as 17th Century Boyars (Russian Nobles).

Vladimir can be seen wearing the Catherine the Great Emerald brooch in his hat and Maria wore the Emerald Necklace along with other loose jewels in her costume.

Grand Duchess Vladimir was described by  Consuelo Vanderbilt, Duchess of Marlborough in 1902:

‘She [Maria] had a majestic personality, but could be both gracious and charming. After dinner she showed me her jewels set out in glass cases in her dressing room. There were endless parures of diamonds, emeralds, rubies and pearls to say nothing of semi-precious stones such as turquoises, tourmalines, cat’s eyes and aquamarines.’  What a night that would be! It seems Russian etiquette called for the hostess show off her jewels to honoured female guests. Not what would be called tasteful by others but I would be OK with seeing jewellery at a dinner party!

The following year, Grand Duchess Vladimir had her spectacular Emerald Necklace set into the hat of her costume of a Boyar in the Novgorod style for a legendary Ball at the Winter Palace, which was the last Imperial Court Ball, described by Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovitch:

“the last spectacular ball in the history of the empire … [but] a new and hostile Russia glared through the large windows of the palace … while we danced, the workers were striking and the clouds in the Far East were hanging dangerously low.”

When she fled St. Petersburg following the February Revolution in 1917, the Jewels of the Grand Duchess Vladimir remained in a hidden safe in her bedroom at the Vladimir Palace, until her son, Grand Duke Boris, and a friend, Bertie Stopford, snuck into the Vladimir Palace disguised as workmen, smuggling the Jewels out in a pair of Gladstone Bags, which were then smuggled out of Russia, deposited in a safety deposit box in London. The Grand Duchess Vladimir was the last Romanov to escape Russia, and passed away just a few months later, in September 1920.

Grand Duchess Vladimir left her jewels to her children in groups of stones, with Grand Duke Kyril receiving the Sapphires, Grand Duke Boris the Emeralds, Grand Duke Andrei the Rubies, while Grand Duchess Elena Vladimirovna, Princess Nicholas of Greece, the only daughter, inherited her mother’s diamonds and pearls, including the Vladimir Tiara.

The spectacular Vladimir Emerald Necklace was sold by Grand Duke Boris to Cartier in 1922, where it was refashioned into a Sautoir and acquired by American heiress Edith Rockefeller MacCormick, being sold a decade later to heiress Barbara Hutton for $480,000.

Barbara was happy to pay double the asking price to acquire these famous Romanov emeralds. As she was living in London at the time, the emeralds were sent across the Atlantic on two steam ships. For security reasons, the jewels were divided into ten packets and hidden in a tea shipment on one boat. The 100 Carat Hexagonal emerald was stored separately on the other.

After it was initially set into a simple necklace, in 1947, Barbara Hutton had the Vladimir Emeralds put into a striking yellow gold Cartier Necklace/Tiara, which she wore on numerous occasions.

A few years later, Barbara Hutton wore the Cartier Tiara with the Vladimir Emeralds for a series of portraits taken at her House in Morocco.

Barbara Hutton sold the Vladimir Emeralds to Van Cleef and Arpels in 1967, and while their whereabouts henceforth are unknown, it was long rumoured that they were reset into Elizabeth Taylor’s iconic Bulgari Emerald Necklace, but that was disproved historian Vincent Meylan:

From time to time, I read that the emerald necklace created by Bulgari for Elizabeth Taylor was, at least partly, created with some of the extraordinary emeralds from the Grand Duchess Vladimir of Russia ‘s necklace!
This is not true and further more, it is impossible. Grand Duchess Vladimir´s emeralds were spectacular. As most of you know, after her death, her emeralds were sold at Cartier who used seven of them on a necklace which was sold to Barbara Hutton. In 1966, Barbara Hutton got tired of her necklace and she brought it at Van Cleef and Arpels in Paris. Van Cleef bought the emeralds. In April 1967, Elizabeth Taylor appeared at a public event in London wearing a rather spectacular emerald necklace created by Bulgari. Around Elizabeth Taylor’s jewellery auction in 2011, a rumour started : some of the emeralds included in Elizabeth Taylor’s necklace may come from from Barbara Hutton’s necklace and therefore from Grand Duchess Vladimir of Russia. Neither Christie’s, who organised the auction, or Bulgari, who bought back the necklace ever commented on that subject. But some still wanted to believe in that legend.

Grand Duke Boris retained the massive Emerald Brooch from Catherine the Great for a few more years, with it being worn by his wife, Grand Duchess Zinaida, before being sold at Cartier in 1927 and most recently appearing at Auction at Christie’s in 2019.

However, some Emeralds from Grand Duchess Vladimir remained longer with her family, like the Emerald Earrings belonging to Princess Olga of Yugoslavia and later Princess Gloria von Thurn and Taxis as well as the Vladimir Emerald Brooch now in the possession of her great-granddaughter, Princess Alexandra of Kent.

Vladimir Tiara | Vladimir Sapphire Kokoshnik | Vladimir Fringe Tiara | Vladimir Emerald Necklace | Vladimir Ruby Kokoshnik | Diamond Rivière | Vladimir Pearl Earrings | Vladimir Emerald Brooch | Emerald Earrings | Sapphire Earrings | Girandole Earrings | Bow Brooch

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Vladimir Tiara