The Court Jeweller

Sparkling Royal Jewels From Around the World

Saturday Sparkler: The Dutch Sapphire Necklace Tiara

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One of my favorite things about the Dutch royal family is their willingness to innovate with their jewels. Today’s tiara, one of the family’s “newest” pieces, is actually composed of a sapphire necklace supplemented by elements from another dismantled sapphire jewel.

 Queen Emma wears the necklace (source)

While the necklace was not worn in public as a tiara until 2009, it has a
much longer history. It began as a choker of diamonds and eleven
sapphires and was purchased for Queen Emma by her husband, King Willem
III. Along with other sapphire and diamond jewels, it was collected into
a married parure. Occasionally a sapphire pendant was added to the center of the piece. (For a very long time, sources — including the Dutch
royal household itself — have stated that the choker and other parts of
the sapphire parure were made by Mellerio. More recent research has
suggested this is not the case.) Above, Emma wears the choker with the pendant.

The choker necklace was lengthened in the first half of the twentieth century; with the extra length added, it can still be worn either with or without the pendant. Above, Queen Juliana wears the lengthened version of the necklace in a 1955 portrait.

The tiara is topped by five lozenge-shaped sapphire and diamond ornaments. These pieces came from another item altogether: part of the sapphire and diamond “wedding gift parure” that was made by Israel and Hoetig and given to Queen Wilhelmina on behalf of the people of the Netherlands when she married in 1901. The five pieces were originally sections of the necklace from that parure, which was broken up in 1962 and used to make other smaller pieces of jewelry for the four daughters of Queen Juliana. (You can see a diagram of exactly where the lozenges were located on the original necklace on John’s website.)

Princess Margriet began wearing the new tiara in 2009, and since then, both she and Queen Máxima have sported the sparkler at various occasions. Máxima chose the tiara for one of the biggest royal events of 2010: the 70th birthday celebrations for Queen Margrethe II of Denmark. And last year, Princess Beatrix wore the piece for the first time during the official visit from Prince Albert II of Monaco. In a collection full of major (and sometimes tough-to-wear) tiaras, I’d predict that innovative smaller pieces like this will be more and more useful in the coming years — especially when there are three young Dutch princesses attending tiara events.

This Week in Royal Jewels: January 16-22

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January 16-22, 2015
Birthdays, brooches, and a trip to the circus — here are this week’s royal jewels!
10. The Countess of Wessex celebrated her 50th birthday this week with a series of engagements; she chose minimal jewelry, including these sea urchin stud earrings by Patrick Mavros. The earrings feature tiny black diamonds in the center of the stud. Closeups are available at Anna’s blog.

9. The Duchess of Cambridge wore a more familiar pair of earrings during her visit to the Kensington Leisure Centre on Monday: her Kiki McDonough green amethyst drop earrings.

8. The annual International Circus Festival is in full swing in Monaco. Princess Stephanie, wearing no jewelry as usual, attended the circus on Saturday with her daughters, Pauline and Camille. And, praise be, it looks like Camille may be stepping up the jewelry game in this branch of the Grimaldi family: check out the statement earrings she paired with her fur hat!

7. Another of Princess Grace’s granddaughters, Charlotte Casiraghi, wore a pair of delicate hoop earrings and a bracelet on Monday to announce her new partnership with Montblanc.

6. On Wednesday, Queen Letizia of Spain wore a lovely pair of drop earrings and a glittering dress to receive foreign ambassadors at the palace.

5. Princess Caroline wore an intriguing necklace to view an exhibit at the New National Museum in Monaco on Tuesday.

4. The Duchess of Cornwall wore one of her many pearl choker necklaces to welcome radio personality Chris Evans to Clarence House on Tuesday.

3. The Duchess of Cambridge debuted a new pair of earrings at the Fostering Network on Friday. They’re the “Lolita” earrings by Mirabelle.

2. Queen Maxima of the Netherlands wore another massive statement necklace this week, this time to a conference on financial inclusion in London on Monday.

1. She’s still on her Christmas holiday — and will be until February 6, the anniversary of her father’s death and her accession to the throne — but Queen Elizabeth II stepped out at Sandringham on Thursday for a Women’s Institute meeting. She wore her Cartier aquamarine clips for the engagement. (Also worth noting: on Thursday, Elizabeth II became the oldest living person in the world currently reigning as a monarch when King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia died. Please live forever, Lilibet.)

This Week in Royal Jewels: January 2-15

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January 2-15, 2015
Slowly but surely, the royals are starting to get back in the swing of things. Here are the baubles we saw them wear over the past two weeks…
10. The Dutch royals returned from Christmas break to attend a series of New Year’s receptions. On Wednesday, Queen Maxima wore pearls for the foreign diplomatic reception.

9. Princess Beatrix also attended Wednesday’s reception, wearing a pair of understated gold earrings.

8. Queen Letizia of Spain chose statement earrings and red lips for the Telefonica Ability Awards on Monday.

7. Although she’s favored major earrings lately, Queen Mathilde of the Belgians chose simple pearl earrings for a meeting with the president of the European Council on January 7.

6. On Thursday, the Duchess of Cambridge wore her sapphire and diamond earrings for a visit to a primary school art program.

5. I’m not sure we’ve seen a statement necklace and earring set this year bigger than the one worn by Queen Maxima on a visit to Utrecht on Thursday. WOW.

4. For another awards ceremony on Thursday, Queen Letizia paired ruby earrings with her red outfit.

3. The second and third New Year receptions were held in Denmark last week. Above, Crown Princess Mary wears one of her pairs of aquamarine earrings at the second reception. Here’s Queen Margrethe at the second reception and Margrethe and Mary at the third reception.

2. Zara Phillips was in Australia last week to attend the Magic Millions races, and she piled on precious jewels while she was there. On Friday, she wore a bracelet, earrings, and ring in diamonds — the diamond ring alone reportedly weighs more than five carats. Hello! reports that the jewels are worth more than half a million dollars.

1. On Saturday, Zara wore more diamonds to the races, including a pair of diamond earrings and a gorgeous diamond cuff bracelet.