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Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images |
The Luxembourg Sapphire Bracelet Bandeau
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Mark Renders/Getty Images |
Princess Margaretha of Liechtenstein is one of the rare European royals who is part of two different reigning families. Married to the brother of the Prince of Liechtenstein, Margaretha is also a sister of the Grand Duke of Luxembourg. Such a well-connected princess definitely needs a tiara or two, and today’s sparkler, the Luxembourg Sapphire Bracelet Bandeau, currently resides in her jewelry box.
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Official Portrait/Grand Ducal Court of Luxembourg |
The jewel originally belonged to Margaretha’s mother, the late Grand Duchess Josephine-Charlotte of Luxembourg. The sapphire and diamond bracelet was one of the presents she received when she married Hereditary Grand Duke Jean in 1953. Josephine-Charlotte was born a Belgian princess, and the bracelet was a gift from the Belgian nobility. The bracelet, made by Jean Lantonnois, is set with more than 200 diamond brilliants and a single Ceylon sapphire. Josephine-Charlotte wears the bracelet on her right wrist in the official portrait above (as well as her Sapphire Art Deco Necklace Tiara).
The bracelet is marvelously convertible, which is always a good thing for a piece of royal jewelry. Josephine-Charlotte most often wore it as a bracelet, but she was also pictured wearing the central portion of the bracelet as a brooch. (Above, she uses it to secure her order sash.) She was also photographed wearing the bracelet as a bandeau-style tiara, as was her elder daughter, Princess Marie-Astrid.
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Mark Renders/Getty Images |
After Josephine-Charlotte’s death in 2005, the family decided to sell a large amount of her jewelry, including the sapphire bracelet, at auction. Though the sale was canceled following public outcry, many pieces were quietly sold afterward. But in 2007, the sapphire bracelet made a prominent public appearance on Josephine-Charlotte’s younger daughter, Princess Margaretha, suggesting that it had been spared from the auction block.
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Mark Renders/Getty Images |
Princess Margaretha wore the bracelet as a bandeau-style tiara for a state banquet at Laeken Castle in Belgium in March 2007. She was part of the Luxembourgish royal party visiting the Belgian royal family on that occasion. (Of course, the Belgian royals are also Margaretha’s aunts, uncles, and cousins, thanks to her mother’s Belgian royal heritage.)
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Mark Renders/Getty Images |
Margaretha paired the bandeau with diamond and sapphire earrings and diamond bracelets for the dinner. From this angle, you get a good idea of the design of the sides of the bracelet, as well as the way those sides attach to the central element.
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Sean Gallup/Getty Images |
We haven’t seen Margaretha wear the bracelet in bandeau form since 2007, but in 2012, she made another prominent appearance in sapphires. For the wedding of her nephew, Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume, she used a diamond and sapphire brooch to secure her pale pink wrap. Many have speculated that the central sapphire and diamond cluster is the same one from the bracelet, just removed and reset into a new brooch design.
This Week in Royal Jewels: December 13-19

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LISE ASERUD/NTB Scanpix/AFP via Getty Images |
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LISE ASERUD/NTB Scanpix/AFP via Getty Images |
14. Princess Ingrid Alexandra of Norway wore a simple necklace and a silver bracelet with a charm for the family’s Christmas portraits in Oslo. (See another view of the necklace here!)
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Pool/Getty Images |
13. Queen Letizia of Spain wore sleek gold hoops to view an exhibition at the Royal Palace in Madrid on Tuesday.
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Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images |
12. On Wednesday, Camille Gottlieb (daughter of Princess Stephanie of Monaco) wore modern gold and pearl earrings to help distribute Christmas gifts at the Palais Princier.
11. For the Queen’s annual family Christmas luncheon at Buckingham Palace, the Duchess of Cambridge wore her pearl cluster earrings. (See a previous appearance of the earrings here!)
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ROBIN UTRECHT/ANP/AFP via Getty Images |
10. Queen Maxima of the Netherlands used diamond bracelets and rings to add even more sparkle to her sequinned dress for Wednesday’s Christmas Music Gala in Zwolle.
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Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images |
9. Princess Charlene of Monaco gleamed in Dior pearl earrings and a sautoir festooned with pearls and fringes to hand out Christmas gifts at the Red Cross in Monte-Carlo on Wednesday.
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Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images |
8. Also on Wednesday, Princess Charlene wore diamond studs and a sun-and-moon themed sautoir necklace to distribute Christmas gifts at the Palais Princier.
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LISE ASERUD/NTB Scanpix/AFP via Getty Images |
7. For the Norwegian royal Christmas portraits, Queen Sonja wore festive red jewels, including a fantastic holiday bell brooch. (See more here!)
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Chris Jackson/Getty Images |
6. The Countess of Wessex wore sparkling earrings and her small diamond rose brooch to act as the official reviewing officer during the Sovereign’s Parade at Sandhurst on Friday. (See the brooch in the Wessex anniversary portraits here!)
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Olivier Matthys/Getty Images |
5. For Wednesday’s annual Christmas concert in Brussels, Queen Paola of Belgium wore her classic pearl and diamond earrings with an ultra-modern necklace.
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Olivier Matthys/Getty Images |
4. The Duchess of Brabant glittered in a pair of spectacular starry statement earrings for Wednesday’s Christmas concert in Brussels.
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Olivier Matthys/Getty Images |
3. For the Christmas concert on Wednesday, Queen Mathilde of the Belgians wore gorgeous diamond and amethyst drop earrings.
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Didier Lebrun – POOL/Getty Images |
2. On Monday, Queen Mathilde wore diamond and pearl drop earrings to attend the 75th anniversary remembrance ceremony of the Battle of the Bulge in Bastogne.
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LEON NEAL/POOL/AFP via Getty Images |
1. For Thursday’s pared-down State Opening of Parliament, Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom reached for the Cullinan V Brooch, an important royal heirloom. (More on the brooch here!)
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