The Court Jeweller

Sparkling Royal Jewels From Around the World

The Sapphire and Diamond Grapes Brooch

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Our journey through Queen Elizabeth II’s collection of sapphire brooches continues today with a look at an exuberant little bauble: her Sapphire and Diamond Grapes Brooch.

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The Queen inherited the brooch from her late mother in 2002. We don’t know much about its provenance, but the setting of the sapphire bow portion has always made me suspect that Van Cleef and Arpels may have had a hand in its construction.

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In June 2006, the Queen wore the brooch for the first day of an event long associated with her mother: Royal Ascot.

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She paired the brooch with a light blue coat and hat in March 2010 for the annual Commonwealth Day Service at Westminster Abbey.

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During her 2010 tour of Canada, she wore the brooch for a visit to the Canadian combined forces base in Halifax. You’ll note that, along with often wearing the brooch with shades of blue and white, she likes to match the bow portion of the brooch with a bow on her hat.

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See? Another bow on both brooch and hat, this time for a ceremony to mark the 20th Anniversary of the opening of the Eurotunnel in June 2014. She boarded the Eurostar afterward to head for a state visit in France, and of course the bunch of grapes were an excellent tribute to that wine-loving nation.

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She wore the brooch with a lovely blue ensemble in June 2018 to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the charity Medical Detection Dogs.

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And a very recent outing for the brooch came in June 2019, when she wore it for a church service at Canongate Kirk in Edinburgh during Holyrood Week.

Queen Maxima and the Dutch Sapphire Tiara

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One of the grandest sapphire tiaras in Europe belongs to the Dutch royal family. Today, we’ve got a closer look at the two different ways Queen Maxima has worn the Dutch Sapphire Parure Tiara since becoming Queen of the Netherlands.

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Maxima debuted the tiara for the first time at her husband’s inauguration ceremony in April 2013. It was a stunning way for her to underscore the importance of her new royal role.

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For the occasion, however, Maxima did not wear the full setting of this grand tiara, choosing instead to wear it with a shorter central element.

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She paired the tiara with additional sapphire pieces from the Dutch vaults. The earrings were made for Princess Margriet using gemstones from the sapphire and diamond tiara given to Queen Wilhelmina as a wedding present by the Dutch people in 1901. The large sapphire pendant is also part of the family’s sapphire parure; she wore it on this occasion suspended from one of the family’s bow brooches.

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In March 2015, Maxima wore the tiara for a second time. The occasion: a grand state banquet held in Copenhagen during the royal couple’s state visit to Denmark.

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She wore the full version of the tiara this time, including the taller diamond central element. She also suspended the large sapphire and diamond pendant from a setting that includes another large sapphire and a pair of diamond wings.

Which version of the sapphire tiara do you prefer on Queen Maxima?