Right now, Amber’s Lure is in the process of being edited by Ellysian Press. However, I might have to ask to make an edit myself due to freak coincidence.
Without revealing too much, I will say that several of the missing Russian Romanov crown jewels feature in the story. Most of the pieces have been found and documented, but there were still four that were unaccounted for. Here they are pictured below:
The brooch resurfaced in the 1920’s, where it was apparently sold at auction. The other three pieces are still officially missing. The Sapphire Wave Tiara was worn by Empress Maria Feodorovna, mother of the last Tsar of Russia. In paintings of the Dowager Empress, the tiara is shown backed by white or cream satin, and edged with pearls.
I haven’t been able to identify the owner of the bracelet, and the image above is the only one of it known to exist. The necklace of emeralds and diamonds (top image) is also lost, and I couldn’t figure out the original owner. That’s why I didn’t mention it in Amber’s Lure.
Until now.
A few days ago, I chanced upon an image in my Facebook feed. Here it is.
That, dear readers, is Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna, previously known as Princess Elizabeth of Hesse and by Rhine. She was the older sister of Empress Alexandra, the last Tsarina. Notice any similarities with the necklace she’s wearing and the missing Romanov jewels?
I am about 99% certain that it’s the same piece of jewelry. The only differences are that the connectors in between the larger emeralds do not appear to be present in the portrait of Grand Duchess Elizabeth, and the diamonds around the drops are missing in the USGS photograph. The base of the necklace is nearly identical. I can hazard a guess as to what might have happened.
After her husband, Grand Duke Sergei, was assassinated by a nutcase with a bomb, Elizabeth sold or gave away nearly all of her jewelry and became a nun. More than likely, this was when the necklace was altered. It’s possible that some of the smaller diamonds that once surrounded the bottom emerald drops were repurposed for the middle connectors. Since the piece is officially lost, it’s hard to tell. I can say that when I used to make jewelry as a hobby, it was not uncommon for me to recycle materials.
That is probably what happened here. Nearly two decades passed between Elizabeth selling her jewels and the pictures being taken. It would be surprising to me if they weren’t redone at some point. Maybe the connectors were added to give a bit of extra length to the piece. As you can see from the photograph, Elizabeth was on the slender side. A person a bit more stout may have found the original structure too tight.
Now to see if my publisher is cool with me making that minor change…
Hilary