Queen Victoria’s tiara turns up in Highgate

He explained that Prince Albert often represented his love for Queen Victoria through the jewellery he designed for her, each gemstone having a different meaning - diamonds representing “eternity”, rubies for ‘passion’ and turquoise for ‘true love’. Geoffrey Munn had brought with six brooches belonging to Queen Victoria and thrilled the guests when he revealed one of Queen Victoria’s stunning tiaras of sapphires and diamonds.

The evening raised £3000 for humanitarian aid charity World Jewish Relief’s ‘CONNECTIONS’ scholarship programme, which provides financial support for Jewish students in Former Yugoslavia who could not otherwise continue their studies.

Copies of Geoffrey Munn’s book, ‘Tiaras: A history of splendour’, were on sale at the event, with all proceeds donated to CONNECTIONS.

Jean Marks, Chair of the CONNECTIONS committee, welcomed Geoffrey Munn who has become a regular speaker for Connections, and thanked him for his generous support. She announced: “We are delighted that Geoffrey has agreed to give his time again to Connections when he will launch his next book on the history of Wartski, which was founded by Russian Jewish immigrants in Wales and became a notable Court jeweller in Mayfair, London”

CONNECTIONS was established by a group of women dedicated to playing a part in the challenging rebirth of Jewish life in Eastern Europe, inspired by the late Rabbi Hugo Gryn and the late Lady Jakobovits. It is part of World Jewish Relief, a humanitarian aid agency that works in communities around the world to reduce poverty and enable lasting, sustainable change.

The Committee continues its student scholarship programme in Serbia and Bosnia where there is still great economic hardship. In January 2011 CONNECTIONS supported three highly successful seminars in Sarajevo attended by 140 young Jewish people from the entire region, organised by some of the students they have nurtured over many years.

The evening with Geoffrey Munn takes place in the 20th anniversary year of the Bosnian war when Connections embarked upon supporting young refugees from the war torn region. Caught up in the conflict of the 1990s, many Jews fled from the region to escape the violence. At that time, World Jewish Relief, then the Central British Fund,, the American Joint Distribution Committee, and La Benevolencija provided assistance to them.

Today, there remain small but vibrant Jewish communities in Serbia and Bosnia. In addition to the work of Connections. WJR continues to provide support to the region in the form of food vouchers to 160 families including older people and unemployed parents who face poverty and cannot afford basic meals.