The Court Jeweller

Sparkling Royal Jewels From Around the World

The Swedish Diamond Arrow Brooch

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The Bernadotte jewel collection is one of the most fantastic in all of Europe, with heirloom pieces dating back centuries. Today, we’re looking at one of my favorites of their brooches: their lovely diamond arrow ornament.

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The diamond studded arrow has been used for generations in the family. The ornament appears to be able to be worn either as one solid piece or divided in two, highlighting either the head or the fletching of the arrow.

The size of the brooch becomes apparent in this moving image from the 1953 Nobel Prize Ceremony. Princess Sibylla, the present king’s mother, wears the arrow brooch pinned to her order sash. For the occasion, she paired the jewel with the family’s grand aquamarine kokoshnik.

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The brooch made another prominent appearance at the Nobel Prize Ceremony in December 1987. Queen Silvia wore the fletching end of the arrow in her hair for the occasion, pairing it with several other important family jewels (including Queen Sofia’s Tiara, the Karl Johan Earrings, and the Bernadotte Emeralds).

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The most glamorous appearance for the arrow brooch in recent years, however, came in June 2010. For the gala held on the night before her royal wedding, Crown Princess Victoria wore the brooch in her hair.

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The ornament was an especially romantic choice for a pre-wedding gala, given the association of Cupid, love, and arrows. The ornament also formed a nifty little link with the tiara Victoria wore on her wedding day, which features cameos depicting the myth of Cupid and Psyche.

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Victoria paired the arrow ornament with major earrings from the family collection for the gala. These diamond earrings were once epaulettes worn on a military dress uniform.

The Diamond Clematis Brooch

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Some of the Queen’s jewels are relics of their time, while other pieces are true classics. Today’s jewel, the Diamond Clematis Brooch, definitely falls into the latter category.

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The brooch is dazzling, shaped like a clematis flower, with all six petals encrusted in diamonds. A single diamond sits in the center of the flower.

One of the earliest outings for the brooch came on a very important day in July 1947, as Princess Elizabeth’s engagement to Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten was officially announced. She wore the brooch for the official photo call with her husband-to-be.

Most of the press attention was understandably on her engagement ring, but the brooch also sparkled mightily as she posed alongside the future Duke of Edinburgh.

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The brooch may be more than seven decades old at this point, but its design is timeless, and it looks just as fresh for contemporary occasions as it did on the day the Queen’s engagement photos were taken. HM still wears the brooch quite frequently. Here, in June 2008, she wears it for the Queens Cup Final at Guards Polo Club in Windsor.

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In June 2013, she wore the brooch on a pale green coat to attend the Epsom Derby.

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The brooch shone brightly against the Queen’s lavender jacket in July 2014 for a commemorative service at the Scottish National War Memorial at Edinburgh Castle.

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And in October 2019, she wore the brooch on a textured coat as she presented the trophy to the winner of the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes on British Champions Day at Ascot.

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.