The Airlie Tiara achieves 189,000 pounds at Lyon & Turnbull sale in London

The Airlie Tiara at Lyon & Turnbull – Image Stewart Attwood

A tiara worn by the late Queen’s American-born lady-in-waiting — a jewel that witnessed some of the most significant moments in recent royal history — has sold for £189,000 at auction in London with Lyon & Turnbull on Wednesday 22 October, 2025.

Believed to have been made by Garrard, the Crown Jewellers, in the late nineteenth century, The Airlie Tiara exceeded its pre-sale estimate of £50,000–£70,000.

The magnificent piece, featuring natural saltwater pearls and over 30 carats of diamonds, led a collection of fine jewellery and objets de vertu from the late Virginia Fortune Ryan Ogilvy, Dowager Countess of Airlie.

A “white-glove” result for the collection which also included a unicorn brooch by Verdura (sold for £17,010), a multi-strand pearl choker with a mid-19th-century diamond clasp (sold for £12,500) , and a Fabergé nephrite and ruby objet, circa 1900, created under the supervision of Michael Perchin, Carl Fabergé’s workmaster (sold for £17,010).


The tiara was originally worn by Mabell, Countess of Airlie, in 1901 when she was appointed Lady of the Bedchamber to the then Princess of Wales. She continued to wear it after the Princess became Queen Mary upon King George V’s accession in 1910.

SOURCE: https://jewelleryoutlook.com/auction-the-airlie-tiara-achieves-189000-pounds-at-lyon-turnbull-sale-in-london/