Diamond starburst brooch

This 18ct rose gold topped with silver starburst brooch features a claw set old European cut diamond centre of estimated total weight 0.42 carat, and is accented with forty-two old European cut diamonds of estimated total weight 2.03 carats. The brooch features a safety chain and pin.

Worn to the Coronation

The starburst was worn as part of a tiara by Louisa Jane Seddon, the wife of Premier Richard Seddon, to the coronation of King Edward VII in 1902.

'Mrs Seddon wore a very handsome dress of deep purple velvet. The skirt was quite plain, but the bodice which was pointed, was trimmed with some lovely lace and jet. Lace and jet were also on the sleeves. She also wore an elaborate velvet mantle, trimmed with jet and forms a hood. This dress was made by Madame Frederic... In Mrs Seddon's hair were the three diamond stars given her by the Anglo-New Zealanders. Her other jewels were a circulet of diamonds on a velvet band and a diamond brooch.' (1)

Louisa Seddon was presented with the diamond tiara, which comprised three diamond starbursts, by the women of New Zealand and the Anglo New Zealand Association in London prior to the Coronation. The diamond stars were made by Frank Hyams, a New Zealand silver smith who had retail outlets in both Dunedin and London.

The gift was reported in the newspapers at the time, along with the presentation of a silver centrepiece, also by Frank Hyams, which featured a New Zealand Rifleman on horseback. The inscription read 'Presented to the Right Honourable Richard John Seddon, Premier of New Zealand, by his many friends, in appreciation of his services to the Empire. London, 15 July, 1902'. The Seddons were extremely popular in London.

The tiara was designed so that the stars could be removed and worn as brooches or as hairpins.

The Seddons and Frank Hyams

Frank Hyams is a significant jeweler who had businesses in New Zealand and London. He started a jewellery business in Dunedin New Zealand in 1885 securing a first order of merit for the manufacture of gold, gem and pounamu jewellery at the New Zealand and South Seas Exhibition in 1890. Hyams registered a limited company in London in 1902 as artistic jeweler, gold and silversmiths and dealers in gems of rarity at 128 New Bond Street. The firm gained a considerable reputation in society for their New Zealand pounamu objects, often fashioned as luxurious trifles much as in the manner of Faberge.While the Seddon's were the recipients of pieces by Frank Hyams, they were also commissioners themselves. In 1901 Seddon commissioned Hyams to make a presentation gift from the people of New Zealand to the Duke and Duchess of Cornwall. This gift consisted of blocks of pounamu, silver and gold in the form of a casket with a waka mount. Hyams' stand at the Imperial International Exhibition in London in 1909 represented a Maori house. Hyams retired from the business in 1914.

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