Our recent poll for the Big Gun spot in your ultimate tiara collection saw a few nominations and quite a bit of interest for a large diamond tiara from Russia which was once a part of the imperial family’s wedding russian royal wife. The large diamond tiara surrounding it was made around 1800 by St. In addition to the tiara, brides also wore the Russian Nuptial Crown.

Petite though it is, it isn’t lacking in impressive stats: there are 320 larger diamonds weighing 182 carats total and 1,200 smaller diamonds totalling 80 carats, mounted in silver and set on a crimson velvet crown. The Bolsheviks sold off many of the imperial family’s jewels and possessions, and many of those items can’t be located today – but the Nuptial Crown is the rare exception with traceable whereabouts. It was sold by Christie’s in 1927 and was acquired by Marjorie Merriweather Post, an American businesswoman. Post was an avid collector whose fortune came from the Post cereal company started by her father, which she turned into General Foods. Her third husband was the U. To go along with the tiara and crown, the Russian brides had a heavy necklace and earrings to wear.

The necklace, part of the Russian crown jewels, was a diamond rivère with diamond pear drops, each stone of quite unbelievable size. All together, the stones weighed in at 475 carats. It was sold at the time of the Revolution and has been missing in action since. Over their gowns, the brides wore a mantle, or robe, fastened with this magnificent diamond clasp made of diamonds in varying sizes, shapes, and colors. This is no mere brooch, mind you – as you can see in the photos above, it very nearly spans the entire chest. It held the imperial mantle made of embroidered cloth of gold edged with ermine, which was also used for coronations, as well as the crimson velvet and ermine mantle you also see above.