Today marks the 130th Anniversary of the Birth of Grand Duchess Charlotte of Luxembourg, who was born on this day in 1896! The Sovereign of the world’s only Grand Duchy during one of its most tumultuous periods, Grand Duchess Charlotte possessed a magnificent jewellery collection, which included Empress Zita’s Köchert Diamond Necklace!
In 1912, Emperor Franz Joseph of Austria commissioned a magnificent Diamond Necklace from Court Jeweller A.E.Köchert in Vienna, which was made at a cost 32,000 crowns. The Necklace features dewdrops of diamonds in delicate diamond swags, and various drafts and drawings which have been graciously shared with us by the Köchert Archives, show that the piece could also be worn as a Tiara.
The Köchert Diamond Necklace had been acquired by Emperor Franz Joseph as a gift to the then Archduchess Zita upon the birth of Archduke Otto, the future Heir of the House of Habsburg, in 1912, with the Necklace being presented during the Baptism at Villa Wartholz.
Archduke Franz Ferdinand presented Archduchess Zita with the necklace with a drop of diamonds which had been given to her by the Emperor as a baptismal gift.
While the Köchert Diamond Necklace went very well with the Köchert Diamond Tiara which Empress Zita had gotten from Emperor Franz Joseph as a Wedding Gift, she was never publicly pictured wearing the Necklace or the piece as a Tiara, due to the First World War and their subsequent exile.
In the early months of her exile in 1919, Empress Zita seems to have sold off the Köchert Diamond Necklace to her brother, Prince Felix of Bourbon-Parma, ahead of his Wedding to their cousin, Grand Duchess Charlotte of Luxembourg.
Grand Duchess Charlotte of Luxembourg wore Empress Zita’s Köchert Diamond Necklace as a corsage ornament with the Luxembourg Empire Tiara for her Wedding to Prince Felix of Bourbon-Parma at the Cathédral Notre-Dame in Luxembourg in 1919.
Empress Zita’s Köchert Diamond Necklace was also worn by Grand Duchess Charlotte for a series of portraits in the early 1920s, after which it seems to have disappeared from public view. The Necklace may still be in the Grand Ducal Vaults, or like it was recently revealed about her Diamond Floral Tiara, the Köchert Necklace could have been passed along to her daughters.
The original sketches of the Köchert Diamond Necklace/Tiara created for are currently on display in the ‘A. E. Köchert Jeweller to Emperor and Crown’ Exhibition at the Royal Palace of Gödöllő.
