When Countess Sveva della Gherardesca married Nicholas Romanov, descendant of the Tsar of Russia, she wore a head dress made of tiny wax orange blossoms. The custom of wearing orange blossoms, which was popular in European weddings, originated in China, where the flower was seen as a symbol of purity, chastity, and fruitfulness. The practice was brought to the west by the Crusaders in the early 1800s. It didn’t take long to spread throughout Europe, with brides using the flowers as bouquets, decorations, and bridal wreaths.
Italian jewellery brand Damiani pays tribute to the romance of the orange blossom by creating a whole collection dedicated to the dainty flower — the Fiori d’arancio. At the heart of the collection is Sveva, an exquisite tiara named after the Countess. It took six months of production, 500 grams of gold, 83 Japanese pearls, and 4,500 diamonds for this masterpiece to be immortalised. Gold buds alternate with full pavé blooms; while white pearls juxtapose with the brilliance of diamonds. With its double-spiral shape and delicate floral pattern, the tiara evokes the eternal ballad of the Royal Italian romance.
