Christened the Diamond Foam Tiara, the setting includes almost 60 carats of diamonds in a white gold setting. The largest diamond is a whopping 8 carats alone. I think it's pretty easy to see why this tiara attracted Charlene: not only is the piece as modern as her taste obviously is, the design of larger diamonds at the end of arcs of smaller precision-cut diamonds evokes the spray of crashing ocean waves. Appealing for the princess of a Mediterranean country to be sure, and definitely appealing when that princess happens to be a champion swimmer.
Immediately, you'll notice the difference between the look of the tiara in the video and the look when Charlene wore it at the ball. Here's a screen shot from the video:
Worn like this, I think it's quite lovely. Looks like her head is exploding in diamonds, but if your head's going to explode, the sparks might as well be diamonds, right?
And here's a close up from the tiara's public debut:
She's reversed it, wearing the spray behind her left ear instead of her right as the design shows, which is probably depriving us of the full sparkle effect, and she's also tilted it so that it comes forward at a lower angle. Because of the difference in the angle, I think the tiara loses its three-dimensional effect. The diamonds are pressed right up against her hair, so instead of looking like a tiara from the front, it looks as though she has Broadway microphones in her hair, or bugs sitting on her head or something. And I am left wondering why she wore it like this instead of the other way. Clearly, we're going to have to see it again.
The Diamond Foam Tiara is not the only significant piece of jewelry Charlene received as a wedding gift from Prince Albert. At the concert the evening of the civil wedding, she debuted an impressive new necklace:
What do you think of the Diamond Foam Tiara and the rest of Charlene's wedding gifts?
Photos: AP/Vogue/Svenskdam
