Vikipeedia:GLAM/Diamonds for Merit/EN
In February 2022, a temporary exhibition is set to open at the Tallinn Museum of Orders of Knighthood. It will focus on orders’ insignia decorated with precious stones.
Orders with their various insignia have been among the main clients of the world’s best jewellers. And it is no wonder, for these wearable awards have provided a legitimate opportunity for adorning the male costume with jewellery decorations. In the eighteenth century, it was common for kings and rulers to order diamond-studded stars and badges of orders of knighthood intended to be worn at special occasions to match their diamond buttons, tie-pins, clasps, and shoe-buckles. Such unique insignia were also on occasion presented as a sign of special friendship or favour or to mark a significant event. Perhaps one of the most famous diamond badges is that of the White Eagle, which King Augustus ‘the Strong’ of Poland presented in 1712 to his ally in the Great Northern War, Russian Tsar Peter the Great.
High officials in England, France, Russia, Poland, Austria, Prussia, and German principalities ordered diamond-studded insignia to match their accessories in their fashionable costumes. The diamond-studded badges of the Order of the Golden Fleece from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries are perhaps the most known today. Two such examples can be seen at the Tallinn Museum. One of them is adorned with emeralds, diamonds, and rubies. The other is richly showered in diamonds. To add to it is the diamond garter of Charles Henry 6th Duke of Richmond. This unusual insignia of the English Order of the Garter is worn on the leg, just below the left knee.
The diamond and ruby-encrusted star of the Portuguese Order of Christ was awarded in 1933 to the mayor of Rio de Janeiro, Pedro Ernesto, by the president of Portugal Óscar Carmona.
Already in the early nineteenth century, many monarchs introduced the practice of presenting insignia with diamonds as a special distinction to an earlier received award. In countries like Russia and Germany, with several orders of merit, these diamond studded badges became a separate grade before receiving the next higher ranking order. The recipient of such a distinction is allowed to wear such badges even after having received a higher class of the order. In many countries, diamond insignia were a personal gift of the Sovereign. They could be kept after the death of the recipient. As an example from the turn of the 20th century, there is the Russian Order of St. Alexander Nevsky.
There can also be a special distinction within an order, such as the Grand Cross Commander of the Order of the Dannebrog. It was created in 1842 by King Christian VIII of Denmark and has always been worn by the reigning Kings, Queens, and other distinguished members of the Danish Royal House.
Beautiful masterpieces made by the world’s best jewellers, these stars and badges shine today as brightly as the day they were awarded. Make sure to visit the Tallinn Museum of Orders of Knighthood before the exhibition ends in September 2022.
This exhibition was set together by:
- Kerdo Kristjan Tamm (Wikimedia Eesti)
- Andrus Rumm (Tallinn Museum of the Orders of Knighthood)
It contains works from the collections of Tallinn Museum of the Orders of Knighthood.