Italy – Page 21

Jewels in Motion: Karl and Zita’s Wedding (1911)

10.22.2017 by The Court Jeweller // Leave a Comment

Wikimedia Commons

Yesterday, we featured the classic tiara worn by Princess Zita of Bourbon-Parma, the last Empress of Austria and Queen of Hungary, at her wedding in 1911. Today, I’ve got some fascinating newsreel footage from that wedding to share, including pictures of several tiara-clad guests. Put on your jewel detective hats, and enjoy seeing a piece of history in motion!

“The wedding day: the bride and groom and the wedding guests with Kaiser Franz Josef in the lead”

The groom, Archduke Karl of Austria (on the left), stands with other wedding guests, including (I believe) Don Jaime, Duke of Madrid

Uniformed guests, including the Duke of Madrid, walk together

Female guests, including at least two tiara wearers, process together

Tuxedoed wedding guests — Zita’s Bourbon-Parma brothers and relatives, I think — process through the crowd

Emperor Franz Josef stands beside the groom’s mother, Archduchess Maria Josepha, who wears her large diamond tiara from Kochert. The bride’s mother, the Duchess of Parma (on the left), wears the Bourbon-Parma Tiara that has since been lost (more on that tiara here)

Archduke Franz Ferdinand, then heir to the Austro-Hungarian thrones, steps in to take a bouquet of flowers from Emperor Franz Josef

On the left, you can see Archduchess Maria Theresa of Austria wearing the Habsburg Fringe Tiara now worn by Hereditary Princess Sophie of Liechtenstein; more on that tiara over here

Maria Theresa was the sister-in-law of Emperor Franz Josef and the aunt of the bride; she was also the stepmother of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, who can be seen here in the background. The little boy in the foreground is Zita’s six-year-old brother, Prince Gaetano of Bourbon-Parma

The beaming bride and groom, with (I think) King Friedrich August III of Saxony in the background; read more about Zita’s wedding tiara over here!

Twilight of Empire

Also: for those of you who are also fascinated by the last years of the imperial House of Habsburg, you may be interested in a book I just pre-ordered: Greg King and Penny Wilson’s Twilight of Empire. I can’t speak to the quality of the content yet (because I obviously haven’t read it!), but I’m planning to review it soon. If you want to snag a copy right away, here’s a link.

(The usual disclaimer: any time you purchase a book or something similar through one of the links on the blog, a small portion of the proceeds come back to me. I use that money to purchase more review and research materials for the blog.)

Royal Jewel Rewind: Luxembourg Royal Wedding (Part 2)

10.19.2017 by The Court Jeweller // Leave a Comment

Andreas Rentz/Getty Images

Our celebration of the royal wedding of Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume and Hereditary Grand Duchess Stephanie of Luxembourg, which was held five years ago tomorrow, continues with more royal jewels! If you missed part one, you can catch up over here!

Sean Gallup/Getty Images

Queen Silvia of Sweden was elegant in diamonds and pearls for the wedding day, including a double-stranded pearl bracelet and an intriguing diamond and pearl brooch. Both the earrings and brooch are heirloom Bernadotte pieces.

Sean Gallup/Getty Images

Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden followed in her mother’s jewelry footsteps for the day, wearing pearl and diamond earrings and a brooch with a diamond and pearl cluster and a pearl drop. She wears the brooch often; in fact, she wore the same brooch without its pearl pendant for the Cambridge royal wedding in 2011.

Sean Gallup/Getty Images

Queen Sonja of Norway went for a bit of whimsy in an, uh, interesting hat and striped suit. She accessorized with a suite of jewelry in mixed metals, including a necklace, bracelet, and earrings.

Sean Gallup/Getty Images

Taking her minimalist aesthetic almost to its limit was Crown Princess Mette-Marit of Norway, who wore teeny gold pyramid stud earrings and a delicate golden bracelet.

Sean Gallup/Getty Images

Her sister-in-law, Princess Martha Louise, went for a heavier jewelry look, including pearl pieces and earrings set with blue gemstones, perhaps blue topaz or aquamarine.

Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images

Here’s a better look at the earrings and her unusual pearl brooch.

Sean Gallup/Getty Images

Queen Margrethe II of Denmark wore one of her most treasured jewels, her Diamond Daisy Brooch, for the wedding. (More on this sentimental piece over here!) She paired it with a four-stranded pearl necklace and modern pearl earrings.

Sean Gallup/Getty Images

Crown Princess Mary of Denmark wore one of the newer earring settings from the Danish Ruby Parure: the cluster studs with pearl drops. (More on this historic parure over here!)

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Representing the Monegasque princely family, Princess Caroline was elegant in neutrals with sparkling embellishments.

Sean Gallup/Getty Images

She wore a large pair of stud earrings with an imposing gold bracelet.

Sean Gallup/Getty Images

A closer look reveals that the bracelet features Caroline’s monogram, a pair of interlocked Cs (similar to the logo of her favorite fashion house) topped by a crown.

Sean Gallup/Getty Images

They missed the gala the night before, but King Felipe and Queen Letizia of Spain (who were then Prince and Princess of Asturias) made it for the wedding itself. Note that Letizia is wearing rings — an unusual sight these days — more specifically, her wedding ring and her Parentesi ring from Bulgari.

Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images

Here’s a closer view of Letizia’s simple round stud earrings.

NICOLAS LAMBERT/AFP/Getty Images

Bring a bit more bling was Princess Lalla Salma of Morocco, who coordinated her diamond and sapphire jewels with her vibrant blue caftan.

Sean Gallup/Getty Images

Princess Sarvath of Jordan chose gold jewelry for the wedding, including bright earrings and a torque-style cuff bracelet.

Sean Gallup/Getty Images

The Countess of Wessex made her diamond and pearl earrings the star of her jewelry show. These are the earrings, on loan from Queen Elizabeth II, now worn by the Duchess of Cambridge. (More over here!) Sophie also wore them at the gala the night before.

Sean Gallup/Getty Images

A large pearl necklace and a matched suite of gem-set pieces, including earrings and a brooch, adorned Queen Anne-Marie of Greece.

Sean Gallup/Getty Images

Her daughter-in-law, Marie-Chantal, wore diamond earrings by JAR.

Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images

Alexandra of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg, daughter of Princess Benedikte of Denmark, wore pearls with elaborate earrings featuring blue gemstone briolettes. I’m more interested, though, in her outfit — isn’t she basically wearing a slightly different version of the Natan ensemble worn by the mother of the groom? Fascinating.

Sean Gallup/Getty Images

Margarita of Romania wore luminous pearls, but look closer — there’s also a set of diamond clips pinned to her jacket. They almost completely disappear against the pattern!

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A big sigh: no visible jewels for Clotilde Courau, wife of Emanuele Filiberto of Savoy.

Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images

A bit more French glitter came courtesy of Philomena d’Orleans, daughter-in-law of the Count of Paris (one of the pretenders to the French throne). I’m digging these vivid diamond and sapphire earrings!

Sean Gallup/Getty Images

Margarita of Bulgaria, wife of the country’s last tsar, wore numerous pieces of jewelry, but I’m most interested in her pendant, which features both ribbon and cluster details and has an amber-colored central stone.

Sean Gallup/Getty Images

Big sigh #2: no jewelry here for Miriam of Bulgaria, Margarita’s daughter-in-law.

Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images

Wearing traditional pearls, the Duchess of Braganza (wife of the pretender to the Portuguese throne) looked every inch the elegant almost-royal lady.

Sean Gallup/Getty Images

And last but not least, Katherine of Serbia wore an interesting diamond bird brooch on her lapel, plus gem-set earrings and a lovely ring.

Which jewels from Guillaume and Stephanie’s wedding were your favorites?

Royal Jewel Rewind: Pre-Wedding Gala in Luxembourg (Part 4)

10.18.2017 by The Court Jeweller // Leave a Comment

Guy Wolff/Grand-Ducal Court of Luxembourg via Getty Images

Here it is: our final flashback post on the glittering pre-wedding gala held for Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume of Luxembourg and Countess Stephanie de Lannoy! This post features all of the non-reigning royals who sparkled at the gala. If you missed any of the three earlier posts, you can read part one here, part two here, and part three here!

Andreas Rentz/Getty Images

Margarita of Romania, daughter of the country’s last king, is also a family member of the groom. Margarita’s maternal grandfather, Prince Rene of Bourbon-Parma, was a brother of Grand Duke Henri’s paternal grandfather, Prince Felix of Bourbon-Parma. Margarita wore the only grand family tiara that has remained with her family: the diamond meander that once belonged to Grand Duchess Victoria Feodorovna of Russia. (More on that over here!) She paired it with dramatic pearl drop earrings and a fleur-de-lis brooch — which, appropriately, is a symbol of the House of Bourbon.

Andreas Rentz/Getty Images

Crafty Miriam of Bulgaria, daughter-in-law of the country’s last tsar, cobbled together a tiara for this gala using existing pieces of jewelry, including a bracelet, a brooch, and two pairs of earrings. You can see an image of the separate pieces over here!

Sean Gallup/Getty Images

The former royal family of Greece was well represented at the gala. Queen Anne-Marie wore the Khedive of Egypt Tiara, the traditional wedding tiara of Danish princesses. (More on that over here!) She paired it with more jewels from her own family, including a diamond necklace that belonged to her paternal grandmother, Queen Alexandrine of Denmark, and a heart-shaped aquamarine pendant that belonged to her maternal grandmother, Margaret of Connaught. She also pinned her large geometric aquamarine and diamond brooch to the waist of her gown.

Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images

With small diamond earrings, Marie-Chantal of Greece wore the Miller Diamond Fringe Tiara. (More on that one over here!)

Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images

Katherine of Serbia, the wife of Crown Prince Alexander, wore her go-to suite of jewels: a small tiara with sparkling earrings and a chain-style necklace. She’s worn this set at several gala occasions, including the wedding of Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden in 2010.

Guy Wolff/Grand-Ducal Court of Luxembourg via Getty Images

It was tough to spot her among the guests, but the Duchess of Braganza, wife of the pretender to the Portuguese throne, was also at the gala. She wore her small diamond bandeau. (More on that over here!)

Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images

Representing one branch of the former royal family of Italy, Clotilde Courau (a famous French actress who is also the wife of Emanuele Filiberto of Savoy) wore a sparkling headband in lieu of a tiara.

Which jewels from this pre-wedding gala were your favorites?