Wondering about the right inspiration that would give life to the future centerpiece of the Empress' next toilet, Oriane realized that she would find there the long awaited opportunity to share her singular vision of the diadem.

Drawing on her childhood memories, Oriane recalled her wonder when her father offered her first pieces of coral. Fascinated, she made a necklace out of it as a teenager. Oriane also remembered her drawings of many pieces highlighting the magnificence of natural coral. .

Suddenly, a smile lit up her face: the Empress' next tiara would be made of coral!

On the other hand, wishing to break with a certain form of ostentatious sophistication that had remained the norm until then, his suggestion was to reduce ornamentation to its simplest expression: through the volume of scrolls.

The Bapst brothers, seduced and dazzled by her proposal, decided that the young Oriane would accompany them to the future presentation of the tiara dedicated to the Empress Eugenie. Then they began to make the jewelry with ardor.

Some time later, during the solemn presentation of the tiara, Empress Eugenie enthused: "What incredible modernity! There is an extreme finesse, an extreme subtlety in your tiara. And these coral pearls are simply divine! ».

Thanks to her sudden fame, Oriane made a silver gilter version. This was the first time that women from the new fortunes born during the Second Empire were able to take possession of the tiara, previously the exclusive emblem of the crowned heads.

To know more about this object, it's here ;)

Vermilion and coral tiara

Text by Jean-Philippe Samarcq.