On 18th October 2024, a diamond aquamarine brooch originally created by Carl Fabergé, and recently recreated by the Russian jewelery firm CHAMOVSKIKH, was presented at the Investing in Jewelry Art and Collectibles exhibit at the Moscow Financial Forum. The brooch is dedicated to the 130th anniversary of the wedding of Nicholas II and Alexandra Feodorovna in 1894.

The famous Russian jeweler has recreated a historical piece of jewelry — a brooch with a 114-carat Siberian aquamarine with a trellis border of rose diamonds, that Tsesarevich Nicholas Alexandrovich (future Emperor Nicholas II) purchased from Carl Fabergé as a wedding gift for his bride Grand Duchess Alexandra Feodorovna (née Princess Alix of Hesse and by Rhine, future Empress Alexandra Feodorovna).

The receipt and the date of purchase have been preserved – 10 August, 1894, (three months before their wedding), for 1100 rubles. The receipt was signed by Henrich Wigström (1862-1923), one of Fabergé’s most important workmasters.

The brooch was presented to Princess Alix on 10th August 1894. The wedding was held on 27th (O.S. 14th) November 1894. The ceremony took place in the Grand Church (the home church of the Imperial Family) of the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg, the service was presided over by the Archpriest Ioann Yanyshev (1826-1910).

Plans for the wedding, had originally been set for the spring of 1895, however, the death of Emperor Alexander III put an end to such plans. Due to court mourning, there was no reception, nor honeymoon.

During the Soviet years, the Empress’s favourite brooch was sold to a foreign buyer (see below), repeating the fate of many other Russian-made jewelry masterpieces.

The following video explores the history of Fabergé’s diamond brooch with Siberian aquamarine and it’s recreation by modern-day masters of the CHAMOVSKIKH Jewelery House.

CLICK on the above image to watch the VIDEO
Duration: 3 minutes, 4 seconds. Language: Русский / Russian

PHOTO: the real Fabergé Siberian aquamarine and diamond brooch
on display at Wartski (London) in December 2014. © Forbes Magazine

The brooch was later purchased by the famous British jeweller Emanuel Snowman (1886-1970) during a trip to Moscow during the Soviet years, and it is among the Tsars’ confiscated treasures. Apparently sewn into clothing, it accompanied the Tsar and his family when they were sent to Yekaterinburg. After the murder of the Romanovs, the brooch, along with pieces of jewelry, was on the list of personal effects found with the bodies.

For a long time, nothing was known about Alexandra Feodorovna’s aquamarines. But in 2014, the Empress’s aquamarine tiara surfaced at Christie’s closed auction. The organizers of the auction kept the names of the seller and the buyer secret, it was only indicated that the jewelry was the property of one of the European noble families. And the original brooch was bought and stored in the British Wartski Gallery.

Following the jewelry exhibition in Moscow, the brooch with a 114-carat Siberian aquamarine with a trellis border of rose diamonds was handed over to the Gokhran of the Russian Federation.

© Paul Gilbert. 27 October 2024