Nancy Astor's Cartier Diamond Tiara Is Set To Be Auctioned

This is the inaugural occasion the tiara has been available for purchase since 1930.

BONHAMS

A Cartier diamond and turquoise tiara, formerly owned by Nancy Astor, an American-born British politician and the first woman to occupy a seat in the House of Commons, is scheduled for auction next week. The tiara is anticipated to realize a value between £250,000 and £350,000 (roughly $318,000 to $445,000). This is its inaugural appearance on the market since Cartier London sold it to Waldorf Astor, the 2nd Viscount Astor, in 1930.

The tiara, deemed “exceptionally rare” by Bonhams, the international auction firm facilitating the sale, originates from Nancy Astor’s collection and has been inherited through her family. This is the second tiara being exhibited at the V&A Museum's Cartier exhibition.

The Bonhams sale announcement states, “The Cartier Astor turquoise and diamond tiara, which is slated for auction, is adorned with old brilliant, single, and rose-cut diamonds, featuring a central old brilliant-cut diamond and three fluted turquoise plumes supported by brilliant and single-cut diamond stems.” “Both sides of the tiara exhibit a fan-shaped design composed of radiating turquoise panels.”

Cartier initially documented the tiara's history in 1929, noting that it was subsequently donned by Lady Astor at the 1931 London premiere of City Lights, with Charlie Chaplin. Subsequently, she lent it to her sister, Phyllis Langhorne Brand, for a royal court gift at Buckingham Palace.

Nancy Astor, originally named Nancy Witcher Langhorne, was born in 1879 in Danville, Virginia. She relocated to England in 1905 and wed Waldorf Astor the subsequent year. In 1919, she became the inaugural woman to have a seat in the British Parliament, representing Plymouth. Astor served until 1945 and was recognized for advocating education reform, temperance, and women's rights. She passed away in 1964.

Nancy had a tenuous connection to the Gilded Age Astors, having wed into the same illustrious Astor family as Caroline “The Mrs. Astor.” Nancy's spouse, Waldorf Astor, was the progeny of William Waldorf Astor, a scion of the American Astor family who relocated to England and attained the title of 1st Viscount Astor. Caroline Astor was his aunt through matrimony.

The auction is scheduled for June 5, coinciding with Bonhams’ London Jewels sale, featuring a rare pink and bluish-green diamond ring, a set of three 19th-century diamond rose brooches, a Tiffany & Co. diamond necklace, chandelier earrings totaling over 35 carats of diamonds, and a 1930s Cartier citrine and diamond brooch.