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This Week in Royal Jewels: June 23-29

06.30.2017 by The Court Jeweller // Leave a Comment

June 23-29, 2017

We’ve got some wonderful and unexpected pieces in this week’s royal jewel review! Don’t forget to vote for your favorites in the poll below!

(Note: some beautiful, elegant jewels were worn at the late Countess Mountbatten’s funeral this week; you can view them over here, but they were not included in these rankings.)

Patrick van Katwijk/Getty Images

10. Queen Maxima of the Netherlands wore hot pink earrings — and a … fuzzy swim cap? — on Thursday for a visit to the Architecture Museum Nagele in Urk.

VALERY HACHE/AFP/Getty Images

9. For an appearance at Jumping International de Monaco on Saturday, Princess Caroline wore a brightly beaded necklace and earring set, plus a gold cross necklace.

BRUNO FAHY/AFP/Getty Images

8. To kick off a summer of 80th birthday celebrations, Queen Paola of Belgium wore pearls and diamond stud earrings as she sliced into a giant birthday cake on Thursday in Waterloo. (Paola’s actual birthday falls in September.)

Robert Marquardt/Getty Images

7. For Thursday’s Princess de Girona Awards, Queen Letizia of Spain wore girandole earrings from her jewelry box. (See more of the earrings she’s been wearing this week over here!)

Jonathan Brady – WPA Pool/Getty Images

6. Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom wore her diamond and aquamarine clip brooches for the 2017 Queen’s Young Leaders Awards Ceremony at Buckingham Palace on Thursday.

Stuart C. Wilson/Getty Images

5. Queen Elizabeth II rounded out this year’s Royal Ascot with a brooch of diamond flax flowers on Saturday. (Much more over here!)

Chris Jackson-Pool/Getty Images

4. The Duchess of Cornwall kicked off a three-day tour of Canada on Thursday; she wore pearls and her Faberge Lily of the Valley Brooch for the welcome ceremony in Nunavut. (More on the brooch’s provenance over here!)

Sylvain Lefevre/Getty Images

3. My third vote goes to all of the jewels worn by Grand Duchess Maria Teresa and Hereditary Grand Duchess Stephanie of Luxembourg during the country’s National Day celebrations last weekend. (See more, including tiaras, over here!)

Photograph © Stefan from Royal Travel and Events. Do not reproduce.

2. Stefan, friend of the blog and writer at Royal Travel and Events, brings us even more jewels today from this weekend’s noble wedding in Germany. The gala featured numerous tiaras, including Duchess Elisabeth in Bavaria wearing the Bavarian Pearl and Diamond Floral Tiara and a necklace with her initial. (Read more about the tiara’s history from our friends at Luxarazzi, and then head over to Stefan’s blog to see more tiaras!)

Photograph © Stefan from Royal Travel and Events. Do not reproduce.

1. My top vote of the week goes to the unusual, fascinating diamond and emerald bridal tiara worn by Sophie, Princess zu Löwenstein-Wertheim-Freudenberg. (Much more on the tiara over here!)

More German Noble Sparkle from the Löwenstein Family

06.28.2017 by The Court Jeweller // Leave a Comment

Photograph © Netty Leistra. Do not reproduce.

While we were chatting about this weekend’s Löwenstein-Wertheim-Freudenberg family wedding, my friend Netty Leistra, who is a freelance royal journalist based in the Netherlands, shared even more sparkling jewels from the family’s collection with me.

Photograph © Netty Leistra. Do not reproduce.

Netty photographed Ludwig, Prince zu Löwenstein-Wertheim-Freudenberg and Elisabeth, Princess zu Löwenstein-Wertheim-Freudenberg — parents of the bride at this weekend’s wedding — at the wedding of Hubertus, Hereditary Prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and Kelly Rondestvedt in 2009.

Elisabeth wore a grand demi-parure of jewels set with enormous blue gemstones. I don’t know precisely what the stones are, but they look like blue topazes to my eye. Yet another example of jewels from a noble family appearing in public during a wedding celebration. Thanks so much for sharing these, Netty!

The images to this post were generously provided by Netty Leistra. You can find her work portfolio here; she also writes a blog here. If you’re interested in the royal houses of Europe, including non-reigning and noble families, her work is wonderful. I highly recommend a visit!

An Emerald Wedding Tiara in Wertheim

06.28.2017 by The Court Jeweller // Leave a Comment

Earlier this week, I asked my Twitter followers whether they’d wear an emerald wedding tiara like the one worn by Princess Sofia of Sweden. Coincidentally, this weekend brought a relevant tiara spotting in Germany: a wedding tiara set with diamonds and emeralds! Here’s the scoop on the unusual wedding tiara worn by Sophie, Princess zu Löwenstein-Wertheim-Freudenberg.

The tiara is something of a modified kokoshnik, rising to a peak in the center, and filled with elaborate, delicate diamond-studded design elements. I note ribbons and festoons among the designs. Seven cabochon emerald drops are suspended within these designs, moving as the wearer moves. According to a message posted at the RJWMB, the tiara has been with the family since at least the 1930s; it was worn by Sophie’s great-grandmother, Princess Margarethe, at the wedding of Princess Alexandrine-Louise of Denmark in 1937.

Sophie also wore a small pair of diamond cluster stud earrings — a good choice, because they sparkle, but there’s no attempt to pull focus from that tiara! (Any such attempt would surely be futile.)

The groom, Constantine, Count Fugger von Babenhausen (no, really, that’s his name/title), coordinated his wedding ensemble with the bride’s tiara. His green waistcoat pairs nicely with the emerald drops. You also get a glimpse of Sophie’s plain gold wedding ring here.

Sophie’s wedding gown featured bejeweled embellishments, too. She’s pictured here with her father, Ludwig, Prince zu Löwenstein-Wertheim-Freudenberg. I love getting a chance to feature a noble wedding like this. So many non-reigning and noble families have managed to hang on to their jewels, but we only get to see them in public on rare occasions like weddings. Isn’t it great to see a fabulous tiara like this one come out of the vaults?

The images in this post were generously provided by a friend of the blog, Stefan from Royal Travel and Events, who was able to join the crowd outside the church in Wertheim. Thank you so much, Stefan! I’d highly recommend that you read his post about attending the wedding, which you can find here.