Royal Citrines and Topazes

Where I live in the United States, November is the season of changing leaves and harvested crops, of vivid scarlets and oranges and yellows. It only seems fitting that this month’s birthstone is a gorgeous, vibrant orange color. Whether in the form of citrines or of orange topazes, the gems are unusual and fun. Here’s a look at some of the citrines and orange topazes in royal collections today.

From the early years of her royal marriage, Máxima of the Netherlands has been adding pieces of citrine and diamond jewelry to her collection. It was a particularly appropriate gemstone for the wife of the Prince of Orange and a new member of the House of Orange-Nassau. The engagement ring given by Willem-Alexander to Máxima featured a citrine surrounded by diamonds. In the ensuing years, she has also worn other diamond and citrine jewels, including drop earrings (seen above), bracelets, and an absolutely enormous brooch. (More on the citrines, including pieces worn by other Dutch royal ladies, is available at John’s website.)

Queen Sonja of Norway’s jewelry box contains a particularly interesting modern gold parure that can be worn with interchangeable jewels in a number of ways. One of these settings features dark orange topazes set in the tiara and necklace; there are also coordinating orange topaz and gold earrings, as well as a secondary set of gold and topaz jewels, a necklace and earrings, that can be worn with the tiara. This parure isn’t to everyone’s taste, but its versatility is without question. (Read my earlier post on the entire parure here!)

Many of the pieces in the Duchess of Cambridge’s collection feature semi-precious stones, including a pair of earrings set with citrines. Made by one of her favorite jewelry designers, Kiki McDonough, the earrings feature pear-shaped citrine drops suspended from small yellow gold hoops. Kate wears these quite frequently.

It’s not entirely clear whether the yellow stones in this parure are citrines or topazes, but either way, it’s a striking set. The members of the grand ducal family of Luxembourg have been wearing this set for several decades, from Grand Duchess Maria Teresa’s early portrait in the parure to Hereditary Grand Duchess Stephanie’s appearance in the jewels at the most recent royal wedding in Sweden. Unusually, the set pairs the yellow stones with pearls rather than diamonds. (Here’s more on the parure from Luxarazzi.)