The Best Royal Jewels of 2018: #10 (Princess Ayako’s Wedding Tiara)

New Year’s Eve is swiftly approaching, and you all know what that means: it’s time for our annual countdown of the best royal jewels of the year! We’re kicking off the 2018 review with some unexpected sparkle out of Japan…

#10: Princess Ayako’s Wedding Tiara

As we’ve discussed so many times here on the site, Japanese princesses give up their imperial status (and their imperial jewels!) when they marry commoners. This year, Princess Ayako of Takamado became the latest princess to leave the imperial family when she married Kei Moriya. She wore her parure of imperial jewels for the last time at a farewell ceremony, and many of us expected that to be the last time she wore a tiara in public.

But we were very happily wrong! For a reception in Tokyo the day after her wedding, Ayako Moriya glittered in diamonds, including a tiara. (Our original post on the reception can be found here!)

The tiara was especially wonderful because it was such an innovative choice. It’s a converted diamond floral necklace from the collection of Ayako’s mother, the Princess Takamado.

Here’s a view of Hisako wearing the necklace during a gala in Sweden in 2016.

Ayako’s earrings for the occasion also appear to have been borrowed from her mother. Note the similarities in the earrings and the tiara worn by Hisako in the picture above. They seem to be from the same parure. I just love when the imperial ladies of Japan step outside of their carefully-prescribed jewelry boxes!