Tuesday, February 5, 2013

Readers' Ultimate Tiaras: Your Diamond Fringe Winner!

The winner of our first poll to assemble a readers' ultimate tiara collection is...drumroll please...

Queen Alexandra's Kokoshnik Tiara!
This thing just swept the poll. And while it may seem odd that something like this - either on the edge of or not qualifying at all for many definitions of what constitutes a fringe - takes such a title, it also makes a lot of sense. There are a whole lot of people out there that just can. not. with the fringes and the pointiness, so this is a nice compromise. And no matter where it falls on the spectrum of fringiness, you can't deny that it brings the Russian spirit.

The runners up included far more traditional examples, including all the pointiness our winner lacks:
2. The Baden Fringe Tiara, with its halo effect and superb tiara-to-user match.
3. Princess Marie-Chantal's Fringe Tiara, a completely classic model and a member of my own ultimate tiara collection.
4. The Modern Fringe Tiara, another compromise of sorts - adding in some design interest for those that don't like a straight up fringe.
5. Queen Mary's Fringe Tiara, another classic fringe, this time made with Queen Mary's skilled eye for jewels.

And there you go! Well done on your first decision, lovelies. Our next poll will be at the end of February.

Photos: Corbis/Getty Images/Kungahuset/Royal Household