Vintage Van Cleef Coral and Diamond Jewels for Queen Maxima in Groningen

Happy Birthday to Queen Maxima of the Netherlands! In honor of the exuberant royal jewelry wearer’s big day, I’ve got a look at a suite of vintage coral and diamond jewelry worn by Maxima during a regional visit earlier this week.

King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima of the Netherlands arrived in the municipality of Het Hogeland, located in the province of Groningen, for a regional visit on Monday. They took part in numerous activities throughout the area during the visit, including several outdoor activities that required Maxima to swap her stilettos for sneakers.

Throughout the day, however, Maxima wore the same coral-hued Elie Saab dress. It’s been in her closet since at least 2017. (Interestingly, Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden has the same dress in her wardrobe as well.)

Maxima paired the dress with the same suite of accessories that she usually wears with the outfit: large flower earrings and a necklace with a matching flower embellishment. All three of the flowers appear to be made of coral and diamonds set in white gold. The necklace features three strands of polished white beads. They’re certainly pearl-like, but the color and sheen of the beads makes me wonder if they’re made of white coral or another similar material.

Here’s a closer look at one of the earrings from Monday’s regional visit.

Maxima’s coral flowers, likely vintage pieces from the ’80s, come from Van Cleef & Arpels. They’re part of the company’s Rose de Noel (Christmas Rose) line, which was first produced in the 1970s. Here’s a similar pair of earrings made of carved pink coral and diamonds (set in yellow gold rather than white gold), sold at Sotheby’s in October 2020.

And here’s a similar clip brooch from the line, also featuring pink coral and diamonds in yellow gold, currently available for purchase on 1stDibs.

This Rose de Noel set, comprised of a brooch and a pair of earrings in a darker red coral, is also currently for sale at 1stDibs. VC&A produced lots of different versions of Rose de Noel jewels over the years, in different sizes and materials.

Queen Maxima usually wears her Rose de Noel jewels together as a suite, and she generally pairs them with bright pink or coral clothing. Here, she wears them with a bright pink blouse and matching trousers for a visit to the Groninger Museum in 2021.

On occasion, she’s worn the necklace and earrings separately. Here, during a visit to Portugal in 2017, she wears the Rose de Noel flower necklace and the Elie Saab dress with a different pair of coral and diamond earrings.

Back to this week’s visit to Het Hogeland. Maxima also wore bracelets on both wrists and rings on both hands. You’ll spot her family diamond initial bracelet here on her left wrist, and her engagement and wedding rings on her left hand.

And here, she wears her gold cabochon bracelet and her diamond wedding bracelet on her right wrist. On her right hand you’ll note an interesting ring set with diamonds and deep orange cabochons. More coral, perhaps, but this time red instead of pink?