It's Tiara Tuesday, and it's time to talk about a glittering tiara made out of some rather unexpected materials- gold and polished steel!
Now belonging to (and being heavily worn by) the Swedish royal family, it was originally made for the once-stepdaughter, later sister in law of Napoleon Bonaparte, Josephine's daughter, Hortense de Beauharnais. Cut steel jewelry had already been in production for about a century when this piece was made, in 1810, but it became increasingly popular towards the end of the 18th century, with sumptuary laws limiting who could wear gold and diamonds.
This absolutely magical crown is made in the shape of oak leaves and sprigs with teeny acorns, all fashioned o...