How north Mayo paid for the crown jewels

There is a great Irish connection between the crown jewels King Charles III and Queen Camilla wore last weekend as they ascended to the British throne in a ceremony marked by much pomp and circumstance.

With the exception of the oldest piece in the collection, a coronation spoon dating from the second half of the 12th century, all medieval crown jewels were sold or melted down prior to the coronation of Charles II in 1661. As a result new jewels had to be commissioned by the jewel house in the Tower of London, who engaged Robert Vyner as he had been sworn in as royal goldsmith in September 1660.

Vyner oversaw the production of some of the most important pieces in the royal collection, including St Edward’s crown, which was placed on Charles’s head at the end of the ceremony last week. Comprised of orbs, sceptres and crowns and an altar plate with a dazzling array of jewellery, symbolic objects and stones – combined with their historic and cultural value – the pieces are said to be priceless, but various experts have estimated their worth to be between £3 billion and £5 billion.

But back in 1661, Vyner – who was said to be more of a financier rather than a craftsman – outsourced the important work to a number of jewellers, gold and silversmiths, and sent the bill, which at the time was a staggering £12,184 7s. 6d to the king. However, despite being created a baronet, knighted and given the position of royal goldsmith for life he was never paid as the royal coffers were empty after the civil war.

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Instead King Charles II swiped possession of 95,000 acres of the modern day Barony of Erris in north Mayo, and granted the lands to Vyner as payment for the royal debt. So in a way the lands of Belmullet and surrounding Erris peninsula paid for the crown jewels that King Charles wore last week. The lands were privately owned, as is outlined in the Visit Belmullet Facebook page, until 1955, when the people of Belmullet bought the freehold of their town from a resident of London.

If all the recent talk of jewels and coronations has you yearning for a bit of beautiful bling, the latest catalogue for Adam’s Fine Jewellery and Watch sale, features a topaz “Stellar” headdress in a series of nine graduated stars with pave set circular cut topaz. Catalogue notes trace the history of the headband all the way back to 475, when the Greeks would wrap their hair in wreaths for special occasions, right up to the playful design by Michele Della Valle in the sale (€8,000-€9,000).

When putting the catalogue together curator Claire-Laurence Mestrallet asked Cork-born Irish actor Sarah Greene to pick out some of her favourite pieces in the sale. And to give the actor – who has appeared in Bad Sisters, Normal People and Penny Dreadful – her due she has great taste. After attending the 2014 Met Gala at the Metropolitan Museum in New York, Greene was named one of the best-dressed red-carpet stars by Vogue.

Her top picks include a statement pair of earrings by the House of Chopard that were worn on the red carpet in Cannes 2017. The emerald and gem set pendants are just fabulous, with striking colours from tsavorite, blue sapphire, blue tourmaline, amethysts and diamonds by the jewellery house, whose elite clientele once included Tsar Nicholas of Russia (lot 178, €20,000-€25,000).

A second set of earrings chosen by Greene is a pair of gem set and diamond pendant ear clips by Bulgari from the 1960s, of which the actor says, “I truly felt beautiful with these on”. Listed at €28,000-€32,000 (lot 68), she wore them with a five carat octagonal step cut emerald ring flanked by baguette cut diamonds (lot 164, €12,000-€18,000).

Another fabulous emerald is lot 159, a 6.64 carat Columbian emerald flanked by trillion-cut diamond shoulders (€12,000-€18,000).

One of the top lots in the sale is a fine 18k gold Nautilus automatic bracelet watch by Patek Philippe. Listed with a €30,000-€40,000 estimate, these timepieces have become collectors’ items so there may well be competitive bidding.

As well as a good selection of other watches, that include names such as Cartier, Chopard, Piaget and Rolex, the sale has some lovely diamond rings that would be perfect for propositions of betrothal. Lot 124 is a single stone ring by Graff from 2018. Centred by a brilliant cut diamond weighing 2.09cts, which Gemmological Institute of America has termed ‘internally flawless’, a circle of pavé set diamonds frames the single stone. It comes with an invoice, from Graff Geneva, certifying that the ring was valued at €50,000 for insurance purposes. It is expected to fetch €15,000-€25,000 in the sale – showing the value in buying good jewellery on the secondary market.

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