As a December baby (who celebrated her birthday yesterday, actually!), I’m a big fan of my light blue birthstones, the vibrant blue topaz (or zircon) and the dreamy purple-hued tanzanite. Today, I’m spotlighting a suite of royal jewels that many believe incorporates tanzanites in its design: Queen Maxima’s lovely blue gem and moonstone necklace and its coordinating earrings.
The set includes a necklace and matching earrings, and Maxima almost always wears them together, usually for evening events that are less formal than occasions that call for tiaras.
The design of both pieces incorporates modern elements that are pavé-set with diamonds, plus milky, luminous moonstones. And then there are the blue stones scattered throughout the necklace and set in the earrings.
There are several guesses floating around about the identity of these gemstones: sapphires, tanzanites, or even iolites. The slight purplish-cast of many of the blue stones makes me think that they may indeed be tanzanites. The pear-shaped pendant at the bottom of the necklace, though, is different in color and intensity from all of the other stones. I’d love to know for sure which gems are used here!
Queen Maxima has been wearing the necklace and earrings since 2013, the year that her husband became King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands, and she became the nation’s queen consort. In November 2013, she wore the jewels for celebrations marking the 200th anniversary of the Kingdom of the Netherlands at the Circus Theatre in The Hague.
She paired the necklace and earrings with two of her favorite diamond bracelets (her wedding bracelet and her family initial bracelet) in May 2014 for a special concert in Kaatsheuvel, celebrating the 150th anniversary of the Koninklijke Sophia’s Vereeniging.
She wore the jewels with a strapless ivory evening gown and a coordinating wrap.
Queen Maxima echoed the blue of the gemstones with her floral gown in September 2017, when she wore the suite for a special gala dinner in Amsterdam benefitting the Princess Maxima Center for Children’s Oncology.
The jewels sparkled beautifully on this occasion, and the deep v-neck of the evening gown framed the necklace perfectly.
Queen Maxima must have liked the combination, because she wore the same gown and jewels a second time two years later. She chose the floral gown and the suite of jewels for a dinner with members of the Raad van State at Noordeinde Palace in The Hague in September 2019.
The suite reappeared once more in the summer of 2024, when King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima hosted a luncheon for the visiting Emir of Qatar and his wife, Sheikha Jawaher, in The Hague.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.