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Sparkling Royal Jewels From Around the World

This Week in Royal Jewels: July 28-August 3

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July 28-August 3, 2017
The royals’ summer holidays are upon us, but we’ve still got some intriguing pieces of jewelry to enjoy this week. Don’t forget to vote for your favorites in the poll below!
Chris Jackson – Pool/Getty Images
10. In Ypres on Sunday, the Duchess of Cambridge wore pieces from her faux pearl button set, including the Eugenia earrings by Balenciaga, for the Last Post ceremony during the Passchendaele centenary. (More over here!)

9. Wearing hoop earrings and a pendant necklace, Sarah, Duchess of York attended the King George VI racing meet at Ascot with her former husband, the Duke of York, on Saturday.
Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images
8. The Princess Royal chose small stud earrings and a large brooch with equestrian and Celtic designs for a Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo cast rehearsal at Redford Barracks in Edinburgh on Wednesday.
Chris Jackson – Pool/Getty Images
7. Queen Mathilde of the Belgians wore pearlescent button earrings on Monday during the Passchendaele centenary commemorations in Ypres. (More over here!)
Carlos Alvarez/Getty Images
6. In an event we’re picking up from late last Thursday, Queen Letizia of Spain wore baroque pearl earrings from Tous for an event focused on helping victims of gender-based violence in Madrid.
Chris Jackson – Pool/Getty Images
5. Queen Mathilde chose classic diamond and pearl earrings, plus a commemorative pin, to mark the Passchendaele centenary at the Last Post on Sunday. (More over here!)
Ole Jensen/Getty Images
4. Princess Sofia of Sweden shone at a charity dinner for A Sustainable Tomorrow in Bastad on Wednesday in new silver-plated earrings from Charlotte Bonde. (Much more info on these over here!)
Handout/Pierre Villard/Le Palais Princier via Getty Images
3. Princess Charlene of Monaco wowed at this weekend’s Red Cross Gala in a spangled jumpsuit and major diamond stud earrings. (See the entire outfit over here!)
2. For the premiere of Lady Macbeth von Mzensk during the Salzburg Opera Festival, the always-interesting Princess Gloria of Thurn and Taxis wore pearl earrings and a single-stranded pearl necklace.
Chris Jackson – Pool/Getty Images
1. For the second week in a row, the Duchess of Cambridge nabs the top spot in my royal jewel countdown, this time for two royal jewels — Princess Diana’s Collingwood pearl drop earrings and Queen Elizabeth II’s Pearl Leaf Brooch — at Monday’s Passchendaele commemorations in Ypres. (More info and close-ups over here!)

The Bavarian Ruby and Spinel Parure

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Photo taken by a friend of the blog. Do not reproduce.

A good friend of mine recently made a trip to Munich, and — knowing how much I love jewelry — she sent me a few photographs of some of the grand royal jewelry in the treasury room at the Residenz Museum. I thought it would be fun to feature one of those sets today: the tiara and jewels Bavarian Ruby and Spinel Parure. (It’s especially appropriate since we’re right at the end of the month, and ruby is July’s birthstone and spinel is now one of August’s!)

Wikimedia Commons

The suite of jewels is almost two centuries old. Made by the Bavarian court jeweler, Caspar Rieländer, the parure was a gift from King Ludwig I of Bavaria to his wife, Princess Therese of Saxe-Hildburghausen. Therese was able to enjoy her new jewels while a major party broke out around her: the first Oktoberfest was celebrated in Munich as a part of Ludwig and Therese’s wedding festivities, and it’s been an annual event ever since.

Wikimedia Commons

The focus of Rieländer’s massive new parure was, without a doubt, the tiara. This enormous diadem, which features numerous floral elements in its design, is made of gold and set with diamonds, rubies, and spinels. The tiara was so heavy and difficult to wear that Therese apparently didn’t like it very much, and I don’t believe there are any extant portraits of her wearing the tiara.

Wikimedia Commons

Here’s another view that emphasizes the diamonds that dominate the tiara’s design. Can you spot the individual flowers, vines, and leaves? Many of the flowers feature diamond petals with rubies or spinels in their centers.

Wikimedia Commons

The set also includes a pair of bracelets. The floral motif carries through each piece of the parure, as you can see above.

Wikimedia Commons

And here are the necklace and earrings. The entire parure now lives in the treasury room of one of Bavaria’s grandest museums, the Residenz in Munich.

Princess Antonia, wife of Crown Prince Rupprecht of Bavaria, wears the ruby and spinel parure, ca. 1921

It’s difficult to fully appreciate the size of this whopper of a tiara until you see an image of someone wearing it. Thankfully, Princess Antonia, the Luxembourgish wife of Crown Prince Rupprecht of Bavaria, decided to wear the parure for a set of official portraits taken shortly after her wedding in 1921. She’s wearing court dress here, and the combination of the tiara and the veil somehow makes the diadem look even more massive. Can you imagine trying to wear this one while eating dinner or dancing??? It’s probably better off stored safely in a museum display.