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Sparkling Royal Jewels From Around the World

Empress Carlota’s Emeralds Found

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Detail from Albert Grafle’s portrait of Charlotte of Belgium as Empress of Mexico, ca. 1860s (Wikimedia Commons)

I’ve received numerous excited messages from readers about the recent royal jewel news out of Switzerland: the “discovery” of a suite of emerald and diamond jewelry that belonged to Princess Charlotte of Belgium, who is perhaps better known to history as Empress Carlota of Mexico.

Charlotte and Maxmilian in 1857, the year they married (Wikimedia Commons)

The jewels come from the collection of Princess Charlotte of Belgium, the only daughter of King Leopold I of Belgium. (That makes her, of course, a first cousin of both Queen Victoria and Prince Albert; she was named for her father’s first wife, the tragic Princess Charlotte of Wales.) She became first Archduchess Charlotte of Austria and then Empress Carlota of Mexico during her marriage to Archduke Maximilian, the younger brother of Emperor Franz Josef of Austria. The couple married in 1857, and less than a decade later, Emperor Napoleon III decided to tap Maximilian to become the first Emperor of Mexico. (Long story very short: the French had invaded Mexico in 1861, and they wanted to make the nation a sort of French North American satellite state, with the country remaining under French control via Maximilian.)

The newly-rediscovered parure: (clockwise from top left) hair comb, tiara (upside down), necklace, and brooch (SKKG)

According to the Stiftung für Kunst, Kultur und Geschichte (SKKG), the jewelry set was a gift to Charlotte from Maximilian. The suite as presently composed consists of four coordinating pieces: a tiara (or diadem) with a matching hair comb, meant to be worn together as a set; a necklace; and a large brooch. The SKKG writes that the “89 emeralds alone weigh 400 carats.” The entire parure features design elements typical of the Second Empire period. The SKKG notes that the tiara is particularly grand, possibly as a way to underline “the empress’s claim to power.” They also suggest that the choice of emeralds wasn’t a random one, as the color is a prominent part of the Mexican tricolor flag.

Santiago Rebull’s portrait of Empress Carlota, 1867 (Wikimedia Commons)

Charlotte may have worn the set even before she set off for Mexico. In her 2014 biography of Maximilian and Charlotte, M.M. McAllen notes that the couple “were received with the highest state of honors and given an opulent reception and dinner at the imperial palace of the Hofburg” in Vienna before traveling to Mexico. She writes that “Carlota wore a diamond and emerald tiara designed for her new rank in Mexico” at that dinner. The jewels may have gained even greater significance once the couple arrived in Mexico. According to their article, the SKKG believes that the new Empress Carlota may have worn the parure for her coronation in Mexico City in 1864. Unfortunately, despite these glittering references, I haven’t found a photograph or painting of Charlotte wearing the emerald parure.

Albert Grafle’s portrait of Charlotte of Belgium as Empress of Mexico, ca. 1860s (Wikimedia Commons)

Maximilian and Charlotte’s reign in Mexico was both brief and disastrous. The French were still battling Republican forces all over the country, and by 1866, they packed up their military might and headed back to Europe. Charlotte too headed back to Europe, hoping to drum up support for her husband. (She packed her jewelry in her luggage.) Napoleon III reportedly tried to convince Maxmilian to evacuate as well, but he refused, and he was captured and executed.

Charlotte as Empress of Mexico (Wikimedia Commons)

After Maximilian’s death, Charlotte was understandably depressed and anxious, constantly afraid that she was being targeted by people who also wanted to hurt her. Psychiatrists reportedly treated her for a nervous breakdown. She lived out the rest of her life in Italy and Belgium, eventually residing in solitude at Bouchout Castle. She died there in 1927.

Charlotte, photographed in Italy ca. 1866 (Wikimedia Commons)

Exactly what happened to the emerald suite immediately after Charlotte’s death is unclear, but in November 1978, the set was sold at a Swiss auction house. The buyer was an eccentric collector, Bruno Stefanini. The jewels remained in his possession until his death in December 2018, and they were recently rediscovered during an inventory of his immense estate. The jewels remain a part of his foundation, the Stiftung für Kunst, Kultur und Geschichte, and I’m hopeful they’ll eventually be put on display to the public.

Queen Marie-Jose’s Turquoise Parure

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MEHDI FEDOUACH/AFP/Getty Images

Yesterday, we discussed jewels stolen from Emanuele Filiberto of Savoy, son of one of the pretenders to the Italian throne. Today, we’ve got a closer look at a suite of jewels that belonged to his grandmother: Marie-Jose of Belgium, the last Queen of Italy.

Christie’s

The gorgeous set of diamond and turquoise jewels dates to the 1830s, and its design is definitely typical of the era. The set includes a pair of girandole-style earrings, a necklace with pendants, and a grand devant de corsage.

MEHDI FEDOUACH/AFP/Getty Images

A pair of identical diamond and turquoise bracelets are also included in the set, which is worn above by a model in 2007. Like many suites of jewels from this era, the pieces can be rearranged to be worn in various alternate configurations. The bracelets can be combined to make a choker necklace, while the set’s necklace can be transformed into a tiara.

The Countess of Flanders, ca. 1879 (Wikimedia Commons)

The first documented royal owner of the jewels was the Countess of Flanders, who was born Princess Marie of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen. She joined the Belgian royal family in 1867, when she wed the Count of Flanders, who was the second son of King Leopold I and Queen Louise.

King Albert I and Queen Elisabeth of Belgium, ca. 1909 (Wikimedia Commons)

The Belgian throne eventually passed to Albert, the younger son of the Count and Countess of Flanders. The turquoises were also inherited by Albert and his wife, Elisabeth.

Umberto and Marie-Jose during their engagement, 1929 (Wikimedia Commons)

In 1930, Albert and Elisabeth passed the suite of jewels to the next generation, offering it as a wedding gift to their only daughter, Princess Marie-Jose. She married Crown Prince Umberto of Italy in January 1930. (You can read my extensive write-up on their wedding festivities over here!) For a ball held two nights before the wedding, Marie-Jose wore the turquoises with a custom-made gown by an Italian couturier, Ventura. According to later auction notes, the dress featured “a royal train, embroidered in silver thread with flowers entwined with the Savoy knot, to match the parure.” The princess arranged the necklace fashionably as a bandeau-style tiara for the occasion, similar to the bandeaux worn in the engagement portrait above.

MEHDI FEDOUACH/AFP/Getty Images

The parure remained in Marie-Jose’s jewelry box for the rest of her life, which famously featured a month-long tenure as Queen of Italy. After her death in 2001, many of her jewels were sold at auction. In June 2007, the turquoises were sold at Christie’s in London. The lot notes from the sale described the set as “a fine antique turquoise and diamond parure consisting of a necklace designed as a series of graduated oval turquoise and old-cut diamond clusters, each suspending a similar drop to the diamond collet spacers, the six main diamonds can be unscrewed; a pair of bracelets with detachable clasps, can be worn as a choker; a pendent brooch and two pendants en suite, mounted in silver and gold.”

MEHDI FEDOUACH/AFP/Getty Images

Estimates for the parure were set between 30,000 and 40,000 pounds, but when the hammer fell, the suite sold for three times more, fetching 120,000 pounds.

Savoy Jewels Stolen in Paris

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The Savoys attend the 2018 Vanity Fair Oscar Party in Beverly Hills (JEAN-BAPTISTE LACROIX/AFP/Getty Images)

Let’s catch up here on a story I tweeted about a few weeks ago: the theft of jewels from the home of Emanuele Filiberto of Savoy and his wife, Clotilde Courau.

The couple attends the pre-wedding gala in Luxembourg, October 2012 (Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images)

The theft took place at the couple’s apartment in Paris while they were away on holiday. Tatler notes that the crime occurred only a few weeks after Clotilde’s handbag, with house keys inside, was stolen on the subway. The article notes, “It is being speculated in the French media that the couple did not get around to changing their locks and that the thieves were able to let themselves inside, suggesting it was the work of professionals.”

Marina, Vittorio Emanuele, Emanuele Filiberto, and Clotilde in Monaco, July 2011 (GERARD JULIEN/AFP/Getty Images)

The couple will be familiar to those who pay attention to European royal events. Emanuele Filiberto is the only son of Vittorio Emanuele of Savoy, one of the pretenders to the Italian throne, and his wife, Marina. Emanuele Filiberto’s paternal grandparents were King Umberto II and Queen Marie-Jose of Italy, which means that he has Italian, Belgian, Montenegrin, and German royal heritage.

Clotilde sparkles at the Official Trophee Chopard Dinner Photocall in Cannes, May 2019 (Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images for Chopard)

Clotilde is a famous French actress. We’ve occasionally covered her jewelry here on the site, but as she often appears at events sponsored by jewelry brands (like the Chopard dinner above), it’s hard to know which jewelry she owns and which has been loaned to her. It’s estimated that the stolen jewelry was worth between 200,000 and 500,000 euros.

The couple on their wedding day in 2003 (VINCENZO PINTO/AFP/Getty Images)

I’m really, really hoping that the Savoy Tourmaline Parure was not among the stolen pieces. Clotilde wore the tiara and earrings from the grand heirloom suite at the couple’s wedding in Rome in 2003.

Clotilde at the princely wedding reception in Monaco, July 2011 (FRED DUFOUR/AFP/Getty Images)

More recently, she wore the earrings for a dinner following the wedding of Prince Albert II and Princess Charlene of Monaco in July 2011.

The couple at the wedding dinner in Monaco, July 2011 (FRED DUFOUR/AFP/Getty Images)

No information has been released about the specific pieces of jewelry taken by the thieves, but one police source called the jewels “recognizable.” These sorts of stories occasionally have happy outcomes, but those seem to be the exception to the rule. Here’s hoping that the family heirlooms were safely stored away at Emanuele Filiberto’s parents’ home in Switzerland, not in Paris.