Hereditary Grand Duchess Stephanie’s Sparkling Sapphires

Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume and Hereditary Grand Duchess Stephanie of Luxembourg arrived at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam in April 2013 for a special dinner. The event was held by Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands to mark the end of her reign; the following morning, she abdicated in favor of her eldest son, King Willem-Alexander. Following custom, royal heirs from all over the world gathered for the celebrations. (Traditionally, reigning monarchs don’t attend coronation/inauguration festivities.)

Stephanie, the Belgian countess who had married the heir to the Luxembourgish throne only a few months earlier, wore a gown in a shade of sea green, festooned with silver sequins, for the dinner. The dress was made by Elie Saab, who had also made Stephanie’s wedding gown the previous autumn.

Stephanie’s dress sparkled enough on its own, but she also added important diamonds from a pair of heirloom collections. Her tiara, the Grand Duchess Adelaide Tiara, is a Luxembourgish royal jewel. The classic diamond laurel wreath tiara, in the form of a small kokoshnik, features a gorgeous blue sapphire in its center. Almost certainly a product of the nineteenth century, the tiara has been a favored piece of Luxembourgish grand duchesses and princesses for more than a century.

With the tiara, Stephanie wore two fantastic jewels that come from the collection of her own family, the aristocratic House of Lannoy. Her earrings are the Lannoy Diamond Earrings, a classic pair of jewels that feature designs popular in the first half of the twentieth century. They must be heavy, as they feature wires that loop over the wearer’s ear to help distribute the weigh of the jewels and enhance the wearer’s comfort. The earrings have also been worn in public by Stephanie’s sisters. Most recently, Stephanie wore them for the christening celebrations for her son, Prince Charles.

Stephanie also wore the Lannoy Diamond Necklace, another heirloom piece from her family. The necklace has also appeared on one of Stephanie’s older sisters, Nathalie Hamilton, who wore it for Guillaume and Stephanie’s pre-wedding gala in October 2012.