The Dutch Citrine Brooch

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November babies are blessed with a pair of sunny birthstones: the topaz and the citrine. To kick off the month here at The Court Jeweller, we’ve got a closer look at one of the loveliest citrine brooches in any royal collection: the Dutch Citrine Brooch.

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The versatile brooch features an enormous oval citrine set in a cluster of diamonds. Three diamond pendants with citrine briolettes are suspended from the main portion of the brooch.

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To my knowledge, we don’t know the long history of this brooch, though it seems that it may belong personally to Queen Maxima. She has been wearing it for more than a decade, including a memorable outing at Prinsjesdag in September 2007. She paired the brooch with other pieces from her collection of orange jewels for the occasion.

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In May 2011, Maxima wore the brooch for a special concert given by the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in Amsterdam in honor of her 40th birthday. On that occasion, she pinned the brooch at the waist of her orange gown.

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The main cluster portion of the brooch can also be worn without its pendants. For the inauguration of King Willem-Alexander in April 2013, Princess Aimee of Orange-Nassau (daughter-in-law of Princess Margriet) wore the large citrine pinned at the waist of her gown. (She was expecting her son, Willem, at the time.)

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The always-innovative Maxima has also used the large citrine cluster with other pieces of jewelry from the royal collection. In 2014, she had the citrine affixed to the center of the large diamond ribbon stomacher that belonged to Queen Emma. (The jewel, which usually features a sapphire in the center, was an engagement present from King Willem III to Emma in 1878.)

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Maxima wore the citrine version of the ornament for a state banquet during the Swedish state visit in April 2014. She paired the brooch with the family’s grand diamond bandeau, diamond earrings from the royal vaults, and her citrine and diamond bracelet.