Luxembourg’s Sparkling Bandeau Collection

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The little grand duchy of Luxembourg has a tiara collection to rival most other royal families in Europe. Today we’re looking an interesting subsection of their sparklers: their collection of mid-century bandeaux.

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We’ll start out journey through the bandeaux with a look at the family’s bandeau tiara set with oval amethysts. In the photo above, taken in 1977, Princess Marie-Astrid (sister of the present grand duke) wears the bandeau with a necklace featuring another oval-shaped amethyst as a pendant.

Cour grand-ducale

More recently, the current generation of the family has worn the bandeau with its coordinating earrings and full necklace. There’s some debate about which stones are set between the amethysts; many believe they are seed pearls, but the rather odd, square setting makes them seem like they might be other gems instead.

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Seed pearls are definitely a major part of another bandeau and its matching parure. Here, Hereditary Grand Duchess Stephanie wears the citrine and pearl suite at the wedding of Princess Madeleine of Sweden in 2013.

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The citrine bandeau has become a favorite tiara of Stephanie’s, and it’s easy to see why: the color of the gems looks lovely with her hair. Most recently, she wore them for the Belgian state visit to Luxembourg in 2019.

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It’s rarer to spot this family bandeau out in the world. The piece is a convertible sapphire and diamond bracelet placed on a tiara frame and worn as a bandeau. Most recently, we saw it on Princess Margaretha (sister of the current grand duke) during a state visit to Belgium in 2007.

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Here’s a view of the same jewel in its bracelet form. Grand Duchess Josephine-Charlotte wears it on her right wrist in this official portrait.

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Here’s one of the newest bandeau-style tiaras in the royal vaults: the diamond and ruby bandeau that belongs to Princess Claire. She wears it here in an official portrait with the coordinating earrings and necklace from the suite, which interestingly are much more substantial than the tiara itself.

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My favorite tiara from the family’s bandeau collection has to be the aquamarine and diamond bandeau. The piece features large rectangular aquamarines interspersed with diamond-set lattice designs. Above, Princess Margaretha wears the bandeau for the dinner held the night before Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume’s wedding in October 2012.

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More recently, Princess Alexandra sparkled in the aquamarine bandeau for the National Day gala in June 2018.