Tiaras: A History of Splendour

The standard survey of the tiara as a jewellery form, written by Geoffrey C. Munn. Munn is a jewellery historian and Managing Director of Wartski, London — the firm long associated with the trade in Fabergé and Russian imperial jewellery — and brings specialist knowledge of the major tiara-making houses and their most significant commissions to the book.

The book covers the tiara from its development in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries through the height of the form in the Belle Époque and Edwardian periods, when Cartier was among the most active producers. Individual tiaras are treated in detail, with attention to commission history, ownership, and subsequent provenance. Cartier's tiara production features throughout, given the volume and importance of the work the house produced for European royal families and aristocratic clients in the years around 1900.

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The full history of the tiara form from emergence to the twentieth century, with chapters on the major jewellery houses and their royal and aristocratic clients. Substantial treatment of Cartier's contribution to the form, including a number of specific tiaras traced through their histories. The 2022 ACC Art Books revised edition updated the text and added new illustrations.

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Both editions are findable secondhand. The 2022 ACC revision is currently in print. The 2001 Antique Collectors' Club first edition is the one most often cited in auction catalogues.

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Cited in the Bonhams sale catalogue for the Nancy Astor Tiara (London, June 2025) at pp. 109, figs. 81–82. Referenced in the Cartier Tiaras glossary entry and entries on the Manchester Tiara and Nancy Leeds Diamond Bandeau.