Duchess of Alba's diamond tiara on sale for €2.56m

AN ITEM of jewellery that belonged to the late Duchess of Alba is on sale in the USA for a cool €2.56 million.

Displayed at M. S. Rau Jewels, the diamond-studded kokoshnik-style tiara originally belonged to the house of Híjar, from the maternal side of the family, and is said to be from the early 20th century.

María del Rosario Cayetana Fitz-James Stuart y Silva – known mainly as Cayetana Fitz-James Stuart, was thought to be the oldest living relative of the last King of Scotland, meaning that if the UK region's independence referendum had led to its secession and it had opted to become a monarchy, the multi-millionaire Duchess could, in theory, have become Queen Cayetana of Scotland.

She passed away in November 2014, aged 88 years and eight months.

Although widely referred to as the Duchess of Alba, Cayetana in fact held more noble titles than anyone else on earth – 46, along with 20 Grandee of Spain rankings – including that of 11th Duchess of Berwick.

And according to one of Spain's key experts in jewellery, Pablo Milstein, the tiara was 'in itself, an important part of the late Duchess' collection' of valuables.

“It's very much in the tone of jewellery at the beginning of the 20th century, where large size took precedence and, in many cases, gemstones of little value – thus achieving an overpowering effect without being too expensive,” Milstein reveals.

In the case of Cayetana's version, though, the gemstones are far from being 'of little value': They are diamonds 'of antique cut' alternate with 'very bright' diamonds, in 'concentric semi-circles' that blend into each other, with the design repeated on each side five times, Milstein explains.

Described by the jewellers' which has it on sale as 'the Russian tiara' and art-deco in style, it was falsely rumoured to have belonged to Empress Mari Fyodorovna, mother of the Tsar Nicholas II.

Jewellery, art and history association Archivo de Joyas confirms that the tiara was, in reality, made by the jewellers Ansorena, established in 1845, 'probably for the wedding in 1920' of María del Rosario de Silva, Marchioness of San Vicente del Barco and heiress to the Duchy of Híjar, when she married Jacobo Fitz-James Stuart, Duke of Alba.

“In the inventory of valuables belonging to Cayetana's mother, this piece is described as 'a Russian crown with diamonds', in reference to its resemblance to the tiaras worn in the Russian Court, which were known as kokoshnik,” Archivo de Joyas explains.

“Both María del Rosario and her daughter Cayetana used this tiara on numerous occasions, as did two of Cayetana's daughters-in-law.

“Finally, it was sold in the 1990s along with another piece of the family jewels – as Cayetana herself said in her memoirs, the reason was that they needed to free up funds to buy a showjumper for her son, Cayetano, to ride.”

The 'Russian crown' later appeared at the New York jewellers' Joseph Saïdia & Sons before being acquired by M. S. Rau, which specialises in antique pieces.

Milstein says the house of Ansorena used the same design for another tiara, but with a huge, hexagon-shaped emerald in the centre, for the Count and Countess of Villagonzalo, and this Spanish dynasty still owns it.

Despite having been valued at US$2.5m (just under €2.56m), Milstein does not believe Cayetana's tiara will fetch anywhere near that amount.

“Whilst it's true that in the last few years tiaras have increased in market price to an extraordinary degree – and this price soars yet more when they are up for auction – I doubt very much whether this particular piece, given its characteristics, will reach the price quoted; not even having belonged to the house of Alba, which is sufficient acclaim to increase its value,” Milstein admits.

“It's normal for jewellers to up the price of an item considerably when it's one they know they will not be able to replace easily once it's sold.

“If you have a loyal customer who shows an interest for a piece you have in stock and you say it's not for sale because you don't want to lose it, then putting the price up dramatically ensures that person won't buy it.”