Prince Albert and Princess Charlene of Monaco announced their engagement in June 2010. The Prince proposed with a pear-cut diamond engagement ring and reportedly asked Charlene’s father for her hand in marriage. Just over a year later, the couple said “I do” and three days worth of celebrations and proceedings took place with royals from around the world in attendance. Following their religious ceremony on the third day, the newly-married couple along with all their guests attended a dinner and fireworks at Opera terraces. While the guest list of global celebrities and heads of states donned their finest ballgowns and diamonds for the occasion, the bride opted for elegant and understated. Instead of a gloriously large and sparkling tiara, Princess Charlene wore a custom-made hairpiece known as the Bäumer Aigrette, and judging from the photographs, she chose to style the piece a different way than initially planned by her and the designer.
Prince Albert instructed several renowned jewellery houses to create a brand new suite of jewels for his bride to be.
All pieces had a water theme – fitting because Charlene was an Olympic swimmer and Monaco holds the role of a maritime principality.
The Bäumer Aigrette was created by Lorenz Baumer.
The piece features eleven long, thin stems of diamonds set in white gold with a larger pear-shaped diamond at each tip, forming that characteristic spray that cascades across the wearer’s hair.
Some have called this piece the “diamond foam” tiara because of its resemblance to the spray of water droplets that accompany cresting waves.
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Images show the piece being nestled into her hairstyle rather than arching it towards her forehead as a band.
As a result, the diamonds seemed to lose some of their impact.
To add to this, Charlene switched the side the aigrette was placed on.
The video footage shows the aigrette situated behind Charlene’s right ear, but when she stepped out with Prince Albert, it had been placed on the left.
Jewellery experts said Charlene wore the tiara in a “very natural rather than stately way”.
“She wears it nestled amongst her hair, and the diamonds peep through flattering her blonde hair.
“She appears to be wearing no other jewels – besides her Repossi engagement ring which makes the tiara really sing out.
“With jewels such as these expect Charlene to become a muse for jewellers – but she will be the one calling the shots,” the Jewellery Editor commented.
The man behind the tiara spoke about meeting Charlene and what it was like to create a piece of jewellery for her.
“I think of Princess Charlene as a princess, but also a person…who it has been my pleasure to meet,” Lorenz said.
“You imagine that she’s living an incredible dream, but she’s also very approachable, and funny, full of humour and imagination.
“The tiara is like a dreamlike object,” Lorenz added. “An extraordinary moment of closeness…it’s one of the most beautiful, possibly the most beautiful piece I’ve ever created which will be part of the moment of a woman becoming a princess and joining the pages of history.”
He continued with: “By means of this tiara which I designed, I realised we had something in common, the principality, the future princess, and I, which is water.
“I love surfing, the princess is an amazing swimmer, and Monaco is a rock perched by the sea, a place connected to water.
“So I tried to represent what linked us: the element of water.
“What I love is the waves as it breaks. We call it ‘Sea Foam’. You can clearly see the wave just at the moment of breaking.”
