Maharani of Jaipur’s Cartier Ruby Suite


Today marks the Anniversary of the Birth of Maharani Gayatri Devi of Jaipur, who was born on this day in 1919! The Cooch Behar Princess who married the dashing Maharaja of Jaipur, becoming the glamorous Maharani who won the world’s largest landslide election victory and was later jailed by the Indian Government ‘playing badminton with the prostitutes & murderesses’, Maharani Gayatri Devi possessed a spectacular jewellery collection, which included this Cartier Ruby Suite!

Cartier Emerald Suite | Cartier Ruby Suite

The spectacular Cartier Ruby and Diamond Necklace, with a detachable sensual element that can be worn as a clip brooch, was created by Cartier in London in 1954, while the pair of Earrings were created several years earlier, probably around the time Princess Gayatri Devi of Cooch Behar married the Maharaja of Jaipur.

Stiff collars worn tight round the neck were fashionable in the early post-war years. Like many such necklaces, the central element detaches for wear as a clip brooch. The pointed clasp with its fancy-cut diamond is an integral part of the collar.

Although cased together by Cartier, the earrings are different in style from the necklace so must have been made at a different time and were not designed to match. They are unmarked.

Maharani Gayatri Devi was photographed wearing the Cartier Ruby Necklace soon after its creation for what seems to be an art class in a foreign country, likely the United Kingdom in the mid 1950s.

A portrait of the Maharani of Jaipur wearing the Cartier Ruby Necklace was taken around the same time.

In the 1960s, Maharani Gayatri Devi was photographed wearing the Cartier Ruby Necklace and Earrings for a cocktail party.

Disillusioned by the state of India and its government, especially after being jailed during the Emergency, the Maharani seems to gave anonymously donated some of her most prominent jewels to the British Museum around 2001, which included her Cartier Ruby Suite as well as her Cartier Emerald Suite.

These jewels are on display at (G47/dc14) and have also been displayed in exhibitions around the world, including at the ‘Maharaja: The Splendour of India’s Royal Courts’ Exhibit in Toronto in 2010 and 2011, San Francisco in 2011 and 2012, Richmond, Virginia in 2012, and Chicago in 2012 and 2013.

Cartier Emerald Suite | Cartier Ruby Suite

Screenshot

Cartier Emerald Suite

Cartier Ruby Suite

Devonshire Tiara

Devonshire Diamond Rivière

Ruby Clasp

Wellington Tiara

Diamond Earrings

Diamond Tassel Earrings

Bagration Spinel Tiara

Rosebery Tiara

 Diamond Necklace

Westminster Myrtle Wreath Tiara

Diamond Fringe Tiara

Duchess of Buccleuch’s Tiaras

Northumberland Tiara

Duchess of Sutherland’s Tiara

Duchess of Bedford’s Tiaras

Marlborough Tiara

Portland Tiara

Duchess of Norfolk’s Sapphire Necklace

Rutland Tiara

Argyll Tiara

Manchester Tiara

Dufferin Tiara

Bath Tiara

Milford Haven Ruby Kokoshnik

Duchess of Devonshire’s Tiaras

Devonshire Parure

Ruby Clasp

Craven Brooch

Insect Brooches

Spencer Honeysuckle Tiara

Spencer Tiara

Spencer Diamond Earrings

Spencer Diamond Rivière

Tourmaline Brooch/Pendant

Londonderry Tiara

Londonderry Amethyst Parure

Londonderry Pearl Parure

Londonderry Turquoise Parure

Londonderry Diamond Stomacher

Londonderry Emerald Parure

The Girls of Great Britain and Ireland Tiara

Vladimir Tiara

Queen Alexandra’s Kokoshnik Tiara

Belgian Sapphire Tiara

Burmese Ruby Tiara

Brazilian Aquamarine Tiara

Queen Mary’s Fringe Tiara

Queen Mary’s Lover’s Knot Tiara

Queen Victoria’s Oriental Circlet Tiara

Nizam of Hyderabad Tiara

Plunket Tiara



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