For centuries, the tiara has been held in the highest
esteem–as a marker of status, an ornate piece of jewelry, a beautiful design
object. Royal families all over the world have inherited these precious
adornments since antiquity, which were usually used to mark moments of great
celebration and succession. In this sense, these objects have always been out
of reach for normal people. But this summer, an exhibition centered on the
history of tiaras is making them more accessible.
Chaumet, a luxury French jewelry house founded in 1780, is staging the exhibit,
Chaumet in Majesty: Jewels of Sovereigns Since 1780, at the Grimaldi Forum in
Monaco. This comprehensive history of the world’s most-coveted object begins
with a piece the 235-year-old company created for Napoleon, Chaumet’s first
royal client. The work he commissioned from Chaumet founder Marie-Etienne Nitot
popularized the tiara as the ultimate symbol of power—an immediate signifier of
his grandiosity and notable reign.
Read more about the exhibition that France’s revered 18th-century jeweler, Chaumet, is staging of its vast collection of historic tiaras on the Fast Company website online HERE
