The Dutch Pearl Pin Brooch

Maxima wears the brooch for the traditional New Year reception at the Royal Palace in Amsterdam, January 2017 (EVERT ELZINGA/AFP/Getty Images)

The Dutch collection is stocked with some incredible royal brooches, but in recent years Queen Maxima has tended to favor today’s piece: the Dutch Pearl Pin Brooch.

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The brooch dates to the early years of the reign of Queen Wilhelmina. Set with diamonds and luminous silvery pearls, the brooch is reminiscent of an elaborate stick pin or a hat pin in its design, with a trio of pearls at the top and a ribbon flourish halfway down the “pin” portion.

Above, you’ll spot the brooch placed prominently on Princess Beatrix’s coat as she rode in a carriage procession through London during her 1982 state visit to Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom.

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Queen Maxima didn’t begin wearing the brooch until after her husband ascended to the throne, but it quickly became a favorite piece. Here, she sports it for a meeting with the president of the Italian senate in Rome in January 2014…

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…and again a few months later for another diplomatic event, the beginning of a two-day visit from King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia of Sweden in April 2014. On both occasions, she paired the brooch with a versatile pair of earrings featuring pearl studs and drops.

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In June 2015, Maxima paired the brooch with diamond earrings for an important event: the official commemoration of the bicentenary of the Battle of Waterloo.

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Maxima often pairs the brooch with outfits in shades of gold and gray, and when she wears a goldenrod color, she usually reconfigures her double pearl earrings so that they feature a golden pearl as well as a silvery gray one. She chose this configuration (with a short diamond connector portion) for the third World Conference of Women’s Shelters in The Hague in November 2015.

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She is also fond of pinning the brooch at her waist, as she did here in November 2016 while hosting King Philippe and Queen Mathilde of the Belgians in Amsterdam. The brooch’s size and shape means that it still draws the viewer’s eye, even when fastened lower on a garment.

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Intriguingly, the brooch has also made multiple appearances during official visit to Germany. During an appearance at the Baroque Hall of the State Chancellery in Erfurt in February 2017, she coordinated with a pearl necklace and her double pearl earrings.

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And in October 2018, she pinned the brooch at her waist once more during a German visit, this time to Bernkastel-Kues.

Image kindly shared with The Court Jeweller by Kirsten

A lovely reader, Kirsten, got to see Maxima and the brooch up-close during that visit as she greeted the crowds, and she kindly shared this image of the occasion with us. Thanks so much, Kirsten!