FINE DIAMOND NECKLACE/TIARA, CARTIER, 1930S

The central, detachable, openwork panel, between a graduated series of palmette and arrow-head motifs, set throughout with circular-cut and cushion-shaped diamonds, length approximately 430mm, signed Cartier, accompanied by a tiara fitting, screwdriver and brooch fitting, inner circumference of tiara approximately 450mm (expandable), central element may be worn as a brooch, fitted case stamped Cartier.

Sir John Smith was a well known banker and philanthropist who was prominent for sixty years in heritage organisations which were dedicated to saving outstanding British architecture. His wife Christian Carnegy was the daughter of a Henderson and her youth was spent in Angus, Scotland, after which she read English at St Anne’s College, Oxford. With a shared passion for art and heritage the couple founded the Landmark Trust and Sir John became the Member of Parliament for Westminster in the 1970s. The tiara, which was inherited by Lady Smith from her mother, was thus worn at several State Openings of Parliament and State Banquets.