The Court Jeweller

Sparkling Royal Jewels From Around the World

This Week in Royal Jewels: May 18-24

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May 18-24, 2018
We’ve surveyed this week’s best royal wedding jewels — now it’s time for the best of the rest! Don’t forget to vote for your favorites in the poll below!
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20. During her recent trip to the Dominican Republic, Queen Letizia of Spain wore her Coolook black and white onyx earrings as she visited a center for Integral Care for Disability on Monday.

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19. On Thursday, Queen Mathilde of the Belgians matched her earrings to her orange blouse as she bicycled with King Phillipe in Heusden-Zoldor.
Handout/Royal Hashemite Court via Getty Images
18. Queen Rania of Jordan wore earrings with a patterned drop and a festive ring to celebrate the graduation ceremony of her daughter, Princess Salma, in Amman on Tuesday.
Patrick van Katwijk/Getty Images
17. Grand Duchess Maria Teresa of Luxembourg made a major statement with glittering earrings as she welcomed King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima of the Netherlands for a state visit on Wednesday.
Patrick van Katwijk/Getty Images
16. For the official welcome ceremony in Luxembourg, Queen Maxima wore floral earrings with a stack of bracelets on her right wrist.
Patrick van Katwijk/Getty Images
15. A striking, artistic necklace and coordinating earrings were Grand Duchess Maria Teresa’s accessories of choice for Thursday’s second day of the Dutch state visit.
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14. Queen Maxima wore pink earrings, a delicate pink and gold brooch (pinned on her belt), and a golden floral headband for the second day of the state visit to Luxembourg.
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13. The Duchess of Sussex was lovely in a pair of diamond floral stud earrings and a new tennis-style bracelet as she attended the Prince of Wales’s 70th Birthday Patronages Celebration at Buckingham palace on Tuesday. (More over here!)
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12. The Duchess of Cornwall beamed in her dragonfly brooches during a visit to the Bream Community Library in Gloucestershire on Thursday.
Chris Jackson – WPA Rota/Getty Images
11. Delicate jewels, including a lovely long pearl pendant necklace, accompanied the Countess of Wessex to the annual Press Day at the Chelsea Flower Show on Monday. (More over here!)
Chris Jackson – WPA Rota/Getty Images
10. The Princess Royal wore pearls and a beautiful gem-set golden floral brooch at the Chelsea Flower Show on Monday. (More over here!)
Chris Jackson – WPA Rota/Getty Images
9. Queen Mary’s Pink Sapphire Cluster Brooch was a surprising jewelry choice for Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom at Monday’s Chelsea Flower Show Press Day. (More over here!)
Chris Jackson – WPA Rota/Getty Images
8. The Duchess of Gloucester was ultra-elegant in a strand of silvery pearls with a diamond pendant enhancer at the Chelsea Flower Show on Monday. (More over here!)

Handout/MEW/The National History Museum

7. Queen Margrethe II of Denmark wore the Connaught Bar Brooch for Thursday’s unveiling of a new portrait of her elder son, Crown Prince Frederik. (More on the brooch here!)

Patrick van Katwijk/Getty Images
6. For Thursday evening’s concert during the Dutch state visit, Grand Duchess Maria Teresa wore eye-catching earrings with luminous green drops.

Patrick van Katwijk/Getty Images

5. Hereditary Grand Duchess Stephanie of Luxembourg glittered in diamonds, including an exquisite diamond riviere, for the return concert on Thursday.

Patrick van Katwijk/Getty Images
4. Queen Maxima wore her grand tutti frutti necklace with her emerald and diamond earrings and an emerald and diamond ring for the return concert. (More on the necklace here!)
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3. For Wednesday evening’s state banquet in Luxembourg, Hereditary Grand Duchess Stephanie paired the family’s Chaumet Choker Tiara, sans pearl toppers, with a diamond and sapphire necklace from the family vaults. (More over here!)
Patrick van Katwijk/Getty Images
2. Grand Duchess Maria Teresa of Luxembourg was chic in her late mother-in-law’s Belgian Scroll Tiara for the Dutch state banquet on Wednesday. (More over here!)
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1. Come on, magpies — how could it possibly be anything else?!? (MUCH more over here!!!)

On the Block: The Farnese Blue Diamond

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The Farnese Blue Diamond is shown during an auction preview at Sotheby’s in London, 6 April 2018 (Tristan Fewings/Getty Images for Sotheby’s)

In the middle of all of last week’s royal wedding hoopla, a major royal jewel auction took place at Sotheby’s in Geneva. An important gray-blue diamond, the Farnese Blue, was sold after centuries in royal hands.

The Farnese Blue Diamond (Sotheby’s)

Sotheby’s describes the stone as “a pear-shaped fancy dark grey-blue diamond weighing 6.16 carats.” The rare diamond’s first documented owner was Elisabeth Farnese, the Italian-born queen consort of King Felipe V of Spain. She received the diamond, which was mined in India, as a wedding present from Martín de Ursúa y Arizmendi, the Governor-General of the Philippine Islands, in 1714. According to Vincent Meylan, who wrote the detailed lot notes on the diamond for Sotheby’s, Elisabeth gave the diamond to her second son, Philip, who later succeeded his maternal grandfather as Duke of Parma.

The Farnese Blue Diamond (Sotheby’s)

Philip was the creator of the House of Bourbon-Parma, whose members successfully married into numerous royal families over the past several centuries. According to Meylan, the diamond remained with Philip’s direct line and was owned by successive Dukes of Parma, ending up in the collection of Elias of Bourbon-Parma, the youngest son of the last reigning duke. The diamond was offered for sale by “a princely family” from among Elias’s descendants. The most recent royal owner is not named, but it’s worth noting that Elias’s last surviving daughter, Alicia, died in March 2017.

The Farnese Blue Diamond is shown in its stick-pin fitting during an auction preview at Sotheby’s in London, 6 April 2018 (Tristan Fewings/Getty Images for Sotheby’s)

Meylan’s notes also include the tantalizing detail that the diamond was once set in a tiara. (This is according to the personal jewelry inventory of Elias’s wife, Archduchess Maria Anna of Austria.) Today, the diamond is set in a detachable stick-pin fitting, where it is surrounded by a halo of collet-set cushion-shaped diamonds.

The Farnese Blue Diamond is shown during an auction preview at Sotheby’s in London, 6 April 2018 (Tristan Fewings/Getty Images for Sotheby’s)

The auction estimate for the diamond was set between 3.5 and 5 million dollars, but when the hammer fell on March 15, an unnamed buyer purchased the stone for a whopping $6.7 million. The BBC quoted Daniela Mascetti, jewelry specialist from the auction house, on the sale: “Good jewels, well-designed, well-made, with a signature, with a perfect… slot in time, in age, do very well.” A bit of royal provenance never hurts, either.

Royal Jewel Rewind: Felipe and Letizia’s Pre-Wedding Gala, Part 2 (2004)

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Here’s the second half of our flashback to the jewels worn at King Felipe and Queen Letizia’s pre-wedding gala, held fourteen years ago today at the Royal Palace of El Pardo! (Head over here to catch up if you missed part one!)

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Queen (now Princess) Beatrix of the Netherlands wore diamond earrings and both of the East Indies Bracelets for the gala.

ODD ANDERSEN/AFP/Getty Images

Princess (now Queen) Maxima of the Netherlands accessorized her deep purple gown with diamond and sapphire jewels, including drop earrings, a large brooch, and a bangle bracelet.

Alberto Martin/POOL/Getty Images

Here’s another view that shows some of the bracelet’s details.

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The Duchess of Brabant (now Queen Mathilde of the Belgians) wore her own diamond and pearl wedding earrings for the gala, as well as two diamond bracelets.

Carlos Alvarez/Getty Images

Diamonds and emeralds were Grand Duchess Maria Teresa of Luxembourg’s gemstones of choice, including her diamond and emerald earrings and a pair of diamond and emerald bracelets (including the one that I think may be an emerald watch!).

Sergio Barrenechea/POOL/Getty Images

Princess Caroline of Monaco wore a dramatic ensemble, accessorizing it with a pair of major statement earrings set with multi-colored gems. The diamond floral brooch pinned to her bodice is, I believe, one of the brooches worn by Princess Charlene in her hair on her wedding day.

ODD ANDERSEN/AFP/Getty Images

Queen Rania of Jordan was elegant in diamonds, including a pair of statement earrings and a modern bracelet.

ODD ANDERSEN/AFP/Getty Images

Rania’s predecessor, Queen Noor, also accessorized with diamond pieces.

BERNARDO RODRIGUEZ/AFP/Getty Images

Gabriele of Leiningen, who was the Begum Aga Khan in 2004, wore some of her magnificent diamonds and emeralds for the gala. The suite of jewels, made by Cartier, was part of the auction of her jewels in 2016.

ODD ANDERSEN/AFP/Getty Images

Also in emeralds: Marina of Savoy, wife of one of the pretenders to the Italian throne. She wore large emerald earrings and a pearl choker necklace with an emerald clasp. (Also: check out the size of her diamond ring!)

ODD ANDERSEN/AFP/Getty Images

Marina’s daughter-in-law, the French actress Clotilde Courau, wore dangling earrings in shades of red and gold for the gala.

Carlos Alvarez/Getty Images

Members of one of the former royal families of France also attended the gala. On the right is Beatrice of Orleans the (now ex-) wife of Michel of Orleans, youngest son of the late Count of Paris. (Trivia fact: Michel’s girlfriend before he married Beatrice was Princess Irene of Greece and Denmark, sister of Queen Sofia of Spain.) Beatrice wore a sparkling pair of earrings, but her daughter, Clotilde Crépy, wore an even more striking pair of earrings.

Carlos Alvarez/Getty Images

Farah Pahlavi attended the gala with her elder son, Reza, and his wife, Yasmine. Farah’s jewels are golden in color, while Yasmine chose jewels set with diamonds and pearls.

Carlos Alvarez/Getty Images

The former Bulgarian royal family is close to their Spanish counterparts, because the last King of Bulgaria, Simeon II, married a Spanish aristocrat, Margarita Gomez-Acebo. Their children have also all married Spaniards. Above, their fourth son, Konstantin-Assen, is pictured at the gala with his wife, Maria Garcia de la Rasilla y Gortazar, who also has Spanish noble heritage. (Konstantin and Felipe are close; each has served as godfather to one of the other’s children.) Maria wore a pair of dramatic beaded earrings for the gala.

ODD ANDERSEN/AFP/Getty Images

Konstantin-Assen’s younger sister, Kalina, also attended the gala, wearing a suite of jewels set with blue and yellow stones. She is pictured with her husband, Kitin Muñoz, a Spanish sailor and scientist.

Alberto Martin/POOL/Getty Images

And last, but of course not least, we’ve got Maria Vladimirovna of Russia, one of the claimants to the headship of the House of Romanov. She was born in Madrid and has spent much of her life in Spain. For this gala, she appears to have decided on earrings with a pearl drop.