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Sparkling Royal Jewels From Around the World

Archives for December 2018

The Best Royal Jewels of 2018: #7 (The Bourbon-Parma Jewel Auction)

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Drew Angerer/Getty Images
The seventh entry on our countdown of the best jewels of the year was truly dazzling — and extremely expensive!
#7: The Bourbon-Parma Jewel Auction

Drew Angerer/Getty Images

This summer, Sotheby’s announced that they would sell an astonishing collection of royal jewelry from the Bourbon-Parma family in November 2018. The collection, which came from the estate of the late Infanta Alicia, Duchess of Calabria, featured an enormous amount of heirloom jewelry, including several pieces that were once owned by Marie Antoinette.

Drew Angerer/Getty Images

An autumn of preview showings followed, and the jewels were auctioned off on November 12. The results of the sale were almost as astonishing as the jewels themselves, with a pearl from Marie Antoinette’s collection fetching a whopping $36 million!

DANIEL LEAL-OLIVAS/AFP/Getty Images

I covered the sale in numerous posts here on The Court Jeweller, so I’ll pop a few links down below so you can relive all the exceptional sparkle of this extremely rare royal jewelry auction!

The Best Royal Jewels of 2018: #8 (Kate’s Necklace Debut)

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Our countdown of the best royal jewels of the year continues with a thoroughly regal appearance from a major royal necklace…

#8: Kate’s Necklace Debut

John Stillwell – WPA Pool/Getty Images

For the fantastic Dutch state banquet at Buckingham Palace in October, the Duchess of Cambridge debuted a wonderful piece of royal heirloom jewelry: Queen Alexandra’s Wedding Necklace. (Read our post on the state banquet jewels here!)

Grand Ladies Site

The pearl and diamond necklace was part of a larger parure of jewelry given to Princess Alexandra of Denmark on her marriage to the future King Edward VII in 1863. She wore the necklace and brooch from the suite on her wedding day in Windsor. (There’s been much discussion about the tiara from the same set of jewelry — read our article on that sparkler over here!)

Grand Ladies Site

Three decades later, Alexandra wore the necklace (hung with additional pendants) again for another important royal wedding: the nuptials of her son, the future King George V, and Princess Mary of Teck in July 1893.

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And in November 1947, the necklace was again featured at a royal wedding. Queen Elizabeth (better known to us as the Queen Mum) wore the necklace for the wedding of her daughter, the future Queen Elizabeth II) to the Duke of Edinburgh.

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The necklace was one of the Queen Mother’s favorite jewels, and she often paired it with pieces from the extensive Greville bequest. Here, for an event in November 1964, she wore the necklace with the Greville Tiara (more here!) and the Greville Peardrop Earrings (more here!).

John Stillwell – WPA Pool/Getty Images

In October, Kate became the first member of the royal family to wear the necklace in public since the Queen Mum’s death in 2002. She paired the necklace with Queen Mary’s Lover’s Knot Tiara (more here!) and the Collingwood Pearl Drop Earrings that belonged to Diana, Princess of Wales (more here!). You’ll also note that Kate now has the Queen’s Royal Family Order!

The Best Royal Jewels of 2018: #9 (Princess Marie’s New Tiara)

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The ninth entry on our countdown of the best royal jewels of 2018 combines Danish royalty with classic French jewelry design…

#9: Princess Marie’s New Tiara

Image kindly shared by Jennifer; do not reproduce!

For years, Princess Marie of Denmark has primarily worn only one tiara: Princess Dagmar’s Floral Tiara, which is on long-term loan from her mother-in-law, Queen Margrethe II. But this summer, she delighted us by debuting a brand new sparkler: the Nuits Claires Tiara, a sapphire and diamond collaboration between the princess and the French jewelry firm Mauboussin. (Our full article on the tiara can be found here!)

LUDOVIC MARIN/AFP/Getty Images

Marie wore the tiara in public for the first time in August, appropriately choosing it for the French state banquet in Copenhagen. (Both Marie and the tiara are natives of France.)

LUDOVIC MARIN/AFP/Getty Images

At the state banquet, Marie also wore the sapphire and diamond ring made to match the tiara.

Image kindly shared by Jennifer; do not reproduce!

The tiara was subsequently placed on display at the grand jewelry exhibition at Koldinghus (which we covered over here!), allowing Jennifer, one of our lovely readers, to snap some great photos of the new piece to share with all of us.