Italy – Page 25

Charles and Camilla in Italy: Arrival in Florence

04.03.2017 by The Court Jeweller // Leave a Comment

ALBERTO PIZZOLI/AFP/Getty Images

The Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall embarked on a six-day visit to Italy on Friday. The visit is intended to highlight UK’s relationship with European partners in areas including social cohesion, military ties and combating human trafficking. Throughout the day, we’ll be catching up on the jewels that Camilla has worn, beginning with the arrival events in Florence.

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Camilla kept her jewels simple for the arrival, wearing her diamond cluster earrings with the round pearl drops, her engagement and wedding rings, and a gold bracelet with cabochon gemstones.

ALBERTO PIZZOLI/AFP/Getty Images

Here’s a look at her entire ensemble.

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One of the major events of the first day was a visit to the British Institute in Florence, where Camilla met with Italian children who are learning English. Judging by the books on the table, the Harry Potter series is featuring heavily in their language education!

Creepy-Crawly Royal Jewels

10.24.2016 by The Court Jeweller // Leave a Comment

Queen Maxima wearing a pair of spider brooches (Photo: MARTIJN BEEKMAN/AFP/Getty Images)

Halloween is nearly upon us, which means that it’s time to celebrate all of the creepiest, crawliest, slither-iest jewels in royal jewelry boxes. If you like your bugs and snakes better in diamond form, this is the post for you!

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The Duchess of Cornwall often wears a classically-designed serpent necklace at gala events. She’s had this one for years and years, and it’s still slithering on.

Queen Alexandra, then Princess of Wales, wears a snake bracelet

With her snake necklace, Camilla’s just following in the footsteps of another Windsor. Queen Alexandra also famously wore a golden snake bracelet wrapped around her wrist.

Photo: Clive Limpkin/Daily Express/Getty Images

I’ve seen some describe the pearly circle tiara that once belonged to the Kent ladies as a tiara of coiled snakes. Do you see it?

Photo: Carl Court/AFP/Getty Images

Surely the most significant royal snake necklace of all is the enormous serpent worn by Sheikha Mozah of Qatar at a Guildhall banquet in 2010. The piece is reportedly by Cartier. Also: THAT RING!

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Also fond of reptilian jewelry: the Duchess of Cambridge, who wore crocodile earrings by Patrick Mavros in New York in 2014.

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The Duchess of Cornwall doesn’t only wear reptiles: she also has a growing collection of insect jewelry, including a large stick insect brooch.

Photo: Joern Pollex/Getty Images

The Dutch royal collection also includes numerous insect pieces, including this lovely diamond moth.

Photo: ROBIN VAN LONKHUIJSEN/AFP/Getty Images

But the creepiest jewels in the Netherlands, without a doubt, must be the spider brooches worn by Queen Maxima.

Photo: LOUAI BESHARA/AFP/Getty Images

Sheikha Mozah has also stepped out in a pair of stylized beetle ornaments.

Photo: Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images

And the Bernadottes in Sweden famously own a necklace of scarab beetles, passed down from Margaret of Connaught to Prince Bertil and Princess Lilian, who bequeathed it to Queen Silvia.

Photo: FRED DUFOUR/AFP/Getty Images

But clearly we can’t end a post on buggy royal jewels without a peek at the tiara of diamond and ruby dragonflies worn by Camilla of Bourbon-Two Sicilies. Creepy and elegant!

The Savoy Tourmaline Tiara

10.08.2016 by The Court Jeweller // Leave a Comment

The Savoy Tourmaline Tiara (Photo: VINCENZO PINTO/AFP/Getty Images)

When a royal family heads into exile, often their jewels are quickly sold — but not always. The former royal family of Italy has retained some significant pieces, not the least of which is the tiara from the pink tourmaline parure.

The stones in this piece are often misidentified as pink topazes rather than tourmalines, but Stefano Papi and Gabriella of Savoy (daughter of Italy’s last king) cleared up the confusion in their book collaboration, Jewels of the House of Savoy. But the gem-studded history of the suite is even more complicated, because the pieces of the parure were originally set with garnets instead.

Photo: Franco Origlia/Getty Images

Unusually for a major royal tiara, this piece has stayed in Italy throughout its history. It originally belonged to Queen Maria Theresa of Sardinia, a member of the Tuscan branch of the Habsburg family, who died in 1855. Her son Ferdinand, the Duke of Genoa, inherited the tiara, but he died only a month after his mother. His wife, Princess Elisabeth of Saxony, continued to wear the tiara, eventually bequeathing it to her daughter, Margherita of Savoy.

Margherita married King Umberto I of Italy, and it has remained with their descendants to this day. Prince Vittorio Emanuele, one of the current pretenders to the Italian throne, now owns the piece, and his wife, the water-skiing Princess Marina, dons it occasionally. In 2004, she wore the tiara (tilted back like a headband) at the pre-wedding gala for Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary of Denmark.

Photo: Franco Origlia/Getty Images

The tourmaline tiara had its most significant public outing in recent years at the wedding of Vittorio Emanuele and Marina’s son, Emanuele Filiberto, to French actress Clotilde Courau. She wore the tiara with earrings from the coordinating parure.

Photo: FRED DUFOUR/AFP/Getty Images

Clotilde also wore the earrings at the Monegasque princely wedding in 2011. This outing demonstrated the parure’s versatility, as different shaped drops can be interchanged for different looks.