MEIJI TIARA (JAPANESE EMPRESS TIARA )

Among all the pieces of jewellery owned by the Japanese Imperial family,the Meiji tiara is considerd tobe one of the oldest in the collection . It can be dated back to the 1880s, and is considered to be designed by Chaumet -the luxury jewellery brand based in Paris. The first photograph of the tiara is of empress Shoken, the wife and adviser of Emperor Meiji of Japan, who was one of the first japanese royals to introduce western influenced ’tiaras’ to the japanese royal costume . The original version of the tiara had diamond stars on the top,which was a fashion trend at that time, and they were later replaced by single large diamonds. The tiara was passed down to Empress Teimei - the wife of Emperor Taishō and the daughter-in-law of empress Shoken. The next owner of the tiara was Empress Kojun, wife of Emperor Shōwa and the daughter-in-law of empress Teimei. It was then passed down to Empress Michiko,the wife of Empress Akihito,and daughter-in-law of empress Koju