The Court Jeweller

Sparkling Royal Jewels From Around the World

This Week in Royal Jewels: October 17-23

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October 17-23, 2014
State visits, awards ceremonies, and even LEGOs — just your typical week in royal jewels. Enjoy!

10. While many of the royals were at the state banquet on Tuesday, the Duchess of Cornwall was busy supporting another family member, her son Tom, at the launch party for his new book. She wore her Van Cleef and Arpels dragonfly clips, one set with diamonds, the other with blue sapphires.


9. Most of the sparkle from Queen Letizia of Spain’s ensemble at the International Journalism Awards in Madrid on Monday came from her glittering dress, but she also wore a pair of small diamond stud earrings.

8. Princess Anne headed Down Under this week to speak at the Commonwealth Agricultural Conference in Brisbane. The subject matter of Tuesday’s talk may not have been particularly glamorous, but she added interest to her outfit with a gold-toned brooch.

7. At a meeting for Child Focus on Friday in Brussels, Queen Mathilde of the Belgians continued her recent trend of wearing large earrings, this time a pair featuring golden concentric circles. She also wore a gorgeous sapphire and diamond ring on her left hand, a ring she often alternates with her diamond and ruby engagement ring.

6. Another outing for Camilla this week: she wore her pearl choker the round diamond clasp on Monday’s visit to Birmingham.

5. Crown Princess Victoria wore a striking beaded necklace to an event with the Stockholm Environmental Institute on Wednesday.

4. Crown Prince Haakon and Crown Princess Mette-Marit of Norway have been visiting the Middle East this week. At the royal palace in Amman, photographers got a glimpse of her elaborate handbag…

…and also managed to capture a good close-up shot of her bracelets and ring.

3. After participating in the Singapore state visit earlier in the day (see our coverage of the visit here, here, and here!), the Duchess of Cambridge headed to the Museum of National History on Tuesday evening to attend the Wildlife Photographer of the Year Awards. She debuted a new set of jewels at the event: a necklace and earrings from the Riva collection by Monica Vinader, a British jeweler. Both pieces feature rose gold settings and pavé-set diamonds.

2. The Windsors weren’t the only royals in state-visit mode this week: Queen Margrethe II and Prince Henrik of Denmark paid a state visit to the Croatians. She was in her element on a visit to a folk costume exhibition on Wednesday, where she wore her ruby brooch in the shape of grapes, a gift for her 70th birthday from the Masters of the Royal Hunt. (She also wore, well, that hat.) The night before, she wore sapphires and diamonds to the state banquet.

1. And finally, we wrap up this week’s royal jewels with a tiara that you can all afford — because it’s made of plastic. On Saturday, LEGO World in the Netherlands unveiled life-sized replicas of King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima in their finery from his 2013 investiture — naturally, including the sapphire and diamond tiara, brooch, and earrings that Max wore on the day. Both fun and terrifying!

This Week in Royal Jewels: October 10-16

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October 10-16, 2014
A state visit, a meeting between two monarchs, and a national celebration bring us plenty of sparkle this week. Enjoy!

10. With her work schedule back in full swing, Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh visited one of her palaces, the Tower of London, to tour the crypt and the Tower Poppies exhibit on Thursday. She wore a piece of heirloom jewelry for the day: a cabochon emerald and diamond brooch that was once part of a stomacher that belonged to the Duchess of Teck. Queen Mary had the brooch created in 1897; it’s usually worn with a cabochon emerald drop, also taken from the Teck stomacher.

9.  Queen Mathilde of the Belgians is really pushing the envelope where “large earrings” are concerned. This is the floral pair that she wore to a concert at the palace in Brussels on Wednesday!

8.  For a visit to the Barbara Sinatra Children’s Center on Saturday, Princess Charlene went with slightly smaller earrings: a pair of diamond stud earrings by Cartier.

7.  On Sunday, the Spanish royals attended a military parade to mark the country’s national day. Queen Letizia wore a pair of colorful drop earrings — possibly with cabochon gemstones? — that coordinated with her outfit.

6. Turquoise was the Duchess of Cornwall’s gemstone of choice for a day of engagements in Kent on Wednesday. With her usual diamond and pearl earrings, she wore a pair of turquoise, diamond, and gold bird brooches and a turquoise bracelet.

5. On Tuesday, Queen Elizabeth II wore one of her grandest brooches — the Cullinan V — to award the insignia of a Dame Grand Cross of the Order of St. Michael and St. George to the new Governor General of the Bahamas, Dame Marguerite Pindling. (More on the various mountings of the Cullinan stones here.)

4. On Wednesday, King Felipe and Queen Letizia of Spain paid an official visit to the Netherlands. Letizia’s theme of the day was red: red suit, red lips, and a lovely pair of ruby and diamond earrings.

3. Queen Maxima went with an even more dramatic look for the Spanish visit. Her diamond earrings are the studs from Queen Wilhelmina’s diamond pendant earrings, created in 1889. Her necklace is a supplemental royal security measure.

2. The Norwegian royals welcomed the President of India for a state visit on Monday. Crown Princess Mette-Marit’s jewelry at the welcome ceremony was limited to a large pair of diamond earrings, but at the state banquet that evening, she donned her diamond daisy bandeau, a pair of earrings with green stones (possibly small emeralds?), a small ruby brooch, King Harald’s family order, and the insignia of the Order of St. Olav. (Also props to Princess Astrid, who wore her diamond and ruby aigrette to the banquet! I just love her.)

1. Queen Sonja of Norway gets my top spot of the week — not only for her pearl-and-gold jewelry at the welcome ceremony on Monday but also for her jewels at the banquet that evening: the Norwegian emerald parure, plus a pearl bracelet with a diamond and emerald clasp, a gold bangle, King Harald’s family order, and the insignia of the Order of St. Olav.

Saturday Sparkler: Queen Máxima’s Wedding Tiara

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One of the more useful terms for you to have in your royal jewelry vocabulary arsenal is “Frankentiara” — a rather colorful way of referring to a sparkler that is cobbled together from parts of other pieces of jewelry. Today, we’re looking at one of the Frankentiaras that graced the head of a royal bride: Máxima Zorreguieta Cerruti, now Queen Máxima of the Netherlands.

Queen Beatrix wears the Pearl Button Tiara, 1980

The base of this starry sparkler comes from another Dutch royal treasure: the Pearl Button Tiara. There’s a debate about the actual age of the base: some think that it was made in the twentieth century, while others argue that it was a part of a coronet worn by Queen Sophie of the Netherlands, which would make it an earlier creation.

Máxima wears the tiara on her wedding day, 2002

When selecting a tiara to wear to marry the future Dutch king, Máxima chose to innovate. For her wedding day in 2002, she wore the button tiara’s base with five of the diamond stars that belonged to Queen Emma. Emma had been given two sets of diamond star brooches when she married King Willem III in 1879. One set has stars with ten points; the other has stars with twelve.

Máxima wears the tiara at the Norwegian royal wedding, 2002

Máxima chose the ten-pointed stars for her wedding tiara. She wore the starry version of tiara frequently during the early years of her marriage, and although she has graduated to some of the largest diadems in the Dutch vaults, she still pulls this one out now and again. Máxima’s the only member of the family so far to wear this particular Frankentiara, but I can sort of see why: the star version of the tiara is bright, fun, and inventive — just like this particular queen!