The Court Jeweller

Sparkling Royal Jewels From Around the World

The Best Royal Jewels of 2018: #7 (The Bourbon-Parma Jewel Auction)

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The seventh entry on our countdown of the best jewels of the year was truly dazzling — and extremely expensive!
#7: The Bourbon-Parma Jewel Auction

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This summer, Sotheby’s announced that they would sell an astonishing collection of royal jewelry from the Bourbon-Parma family in November 2018. The collection, which came from the estate of the late Infanta Alicia, Duchess of Calabria, featured an enormous amount of heirloom jewelry, including several pieces that were once owned by Marie Antoinette.

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An autumn of preview showings followed, and the jewels were auctioned off on November 12. The results of the sale were almost as astonishing as the jewels themselves, with a pearl from Marie Antoinette’s collection fetching a whopping $36 million!

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I covered the sale in numerous posts here on The Court Jeweller, so I’ll pop a few links down below so you can relive all the exceptional sparkle of this extremely rare royal jewelry auction!

The Best Royal Jewels of 2018: #9 (Princess Marie’s New Tiara)

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The ninth entry on our countdown of the best royal jewels of 2018 combines Danish royalty with classic French jewelry design…

#9: Princess Marie’s New Tiara

Image kindly shared by Jennifer; do not reproduce!

For years, Princess Marie of Denmark has primarily worn only one tiara: Princess Dagmar’s Floral Tiara, which is on long-term loan from her mother-in-law, Queen Margrethe II. But this summer, she delighted us by debuting a brand new sparkler: the Nuits Claires Tiara, a sapphire and diamond collaboration between the princess and the French jewelry firm Mauboussin. (Our full article on the tiara can be found here!)

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Marie wore the tiara in public for the first time in August, appropriately choosing it for the French state banquet in Copenhagen. (Both Marie and the tiara are natives of France.)

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At the state banquet, Marie also wore the sapphire and diamond ring made to match the tiara.

Image kindly shared by Jennifer; do not reproduce!

The tiara was subsequently placed on display at the grand jewelry exhibition at Koldinghus (which we covered over here!), allowing Jennifer, one of our lovely readers, to snap some great photos of the new piece to share with all of us.