All eyes were on Charlene as she walked down the aisle in her impressive crystal-embroidered Armani wedding dress. But what jewels was she wearing? Something borrowed is a clue. Scrutinising the photographs and videos of the wedding what is very clear is that at both the civil and church wedding, Princess Charlene is not wearing much jewellery. As she walked down the aisle it was immediately clear that, unlike Kate Middleton, she was not wearing a tiara perched on her head. But there is a reason for this. A jewellery historian in Paris told me that the Grimaldi's (Prince Albert's family) do not wear tiaras. And, the tradition for brides is to wear the tiara after the ring has been slipped on the finger and so are officially a royal. Until this moment, they should not wear a tiara. Now onto the jewels that she was wearing and Charlene has done something very chic with her hair and adorned her nape with a diamond jewel that sits tucked below her hair knot. It looks like a vintage floral-motif diamond necklace or tiara that has been secured to just peep out from between the hair and her ears. Chatting to the hugely knowledgeable French jewellers, one tells me that these diamond jewels are 'en tremblant' flower brooches, loaned to her by her sister in law Caroline of Monaco. Apparently they were a gift to Caroline from Karl Lagerfeld and are 19th century with no maker's mark, as was the norm before the days of logos and big branding. 'En tremblant' means that the flowers actually move, or more like quiver, with your every move. They were made this way to make the most of old cut diamonds with less facets than our modern cuts and by being in constant motion, catch the candlelight and throw off a shower of light. This is achieved by setting the diamonds into coils. This style of jewel was popular in the late 18th and early 19th century and used for brooches and tiaras. The effect is very elegant and confirms that while Princess Charlene is not into jewels like her late mother in law, Grace Kelly, she has a refined taste and clearly likes diamonds. And it looks like she prefers the cool look of white gold or platinum over brighter yellow or warmer rose gold. The Cartier wedding bands are made of platinum and her Repossi pear-cut diamond engagement ring is mounted in a grey-hued precious metal alloy. As well as her Repossi diamond engagement ring, she received another token of love from her husband: the Van Cleef & Arpels Océan necklace. According to the press release, together with her husband, she commissioned this diamond and sapphire necklace of swirling wave motifs, that can be converted into a tiara. The gift is described as 'a love pledge'. The bride is yet to wear the new necklace and I will make sure I keep you posted on first sightings. And find out more about that hair decoration. [youtube width="620" height="344"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ACFlTGgv_p0[/youtube]
