Queen Mary of Denmark’s Dazzling Diamond and Amethyst Briolette Earrings

Queen Mary of Denmark is a February baby, so it only makes sense that her personal jewelry collection includes numerous pieces set with her birthstone, the gorgeous purple amethyst. Today, we’ve got a closer look at a favorite pair of gala earrings set with dark, dramatic amethyst briolettes.

The earrings have been in Mary’s jewelry box since at least 2006. That April, she wore them with a dark teal, Grecian-inspired evening gown in Stockholm for a dinner celebrating the 60th birthday of the King of Sweden.

Here’s a better look at the earrings from that birthday dinner. They feature long “strings” with alternating diamonds in round and diamond-shaped cuts, from which pear-shaped amethysts are suspended. The dark purple gemstones are faceted briolettes, a cut that allows the stone to sparkle by reflecting light off of numerous surfaces.

Mary has chosen the earrings for numerous gala occasions over the past two decades, often pairing the earrings with the all-diamond setting of her wedding tiara. Here, she wears the combination for a dinner at Christiansborg Palace in March 2009.

She chose the wedding tiara/amethyst earring combination once more in January 2012, wearing them together for a gala concert during her mother-in-law’s Ruby Jubilee festivities in Copenhagen. She paired them with a black evening gown and a dark blue velvet wrap.

Mary’s makeup artist even added some purple eyeshadow to reflect the color of the earrings. For me, though, this appearance shows one of the drawbacks of the earrings: the amethysts are so dark that the briolettes often disappear against Mary’s dark hair or her clothing.

When the earrings show up against a lighter background, they shine beautifully. I have a feeling this is a pair that looks better in person—and in motion—than in still photographs. The briolette faceting surely throws off an incredible amount of sparkle that undoubtedly gets flattened a bit in pictures.

In more recent years, Mary has often paired the earrings with a bright blue evening gown. She wore the combination for the return event during the state visit with the King and Queen of the Belgians in Copenhagen in the spring of 2017.

Here’s a better look at the earrings from the event, which was held at the Black Diamond, a modern wing of the Danish Royal Library on Copenhagen’s waterfront.

Here’s another view of the gown and jewels from the event. You’ll note that Mary’s also wearing an amethyst and diamond cocktail ring on her right hand, plus a bracelet set with pale lavender amethysts on her right wrist. The ring has been in her collection about as long as the earrings—not sure about the bracelet.

In March 2019, Mary made another appearance in the same gown and jewels during her visit to Texas. She wore the ensemble for a gala dinner at the Houston Museum of Fine Arts.

This photograph from the gala dinner in Houston shows off the details of the earrings nicely, especially the diamond-and-dot “string” section.

And here’s an excellent view of the amethyst bracelet and ring from the Houston event. We also saw Queen Mary wear an amethyst ring at Aarhus Cathedral a few weeks ago, but I think that might be a different one—a very good thing for those of us who think more amethyst jewelry is always better!