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Sparkling Royal Jewels From Around the World

The Japanese Honeysuckle Tiara

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SVEN NACKSTRAND/AFP/Getty Images

To wrap up our month-long celebration of the tiaras worn by the imperial ladies of Japan, we’ve got one of my personal favorites: the family’s diamond honeysuckle tiara.

Prince and Princess Chichibu at their wedding

The tiara has been in the family for at least two generations. Its first documented wearer was Setsuko Matsudaira, the English-born wife of Yasuhito, Prince Chichibu. Setsuko was the daughter of the Japanese ambassador to the United States and Great Britain, and she had major family ties to Japan’s pre-war aristocracy. When she married Yasuhito, the second son of Emperor Yoshihito, brother of Emperor Hirohito, and uncle of Emperor Akihito, in 1928, Setsuko wore the honeysuckle tiara and a coordinating diamond necklace for part of the wedding ceremonies. They represented the imperial family at numerous important occasions, including the 1937 coronation in Britain.

Pool/Getty Images

The Prince and Princess Chichibu had no children, so after her death in 1995, her jewels were returned to the imperial vaults. The tiara reappeared about a decade later on her nephew’s wife, Empress Michiko. She wore the tiara in a more open style, which suggests that it has an adjustable frame.

Pool/Getty Images

Michiko began favoring the honeysuckle tiara after she developed back and neck issues that made heavier tiaras painful to wear. Above, she wears the tiara during the Diamond Jubilee of King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand in June 2006.

SVEN NACKSTRAND/AFP/Getty Images

And above, she wears the tiara (with a slight hair malfunction) during a visit to Sweden in May 2007. Michiko has stopped wearing tiaras altogether now, unfortunately, but it’s heartening to see jewels being reused and recycled in the family. It’s becoming more and more clear to me that Japan’s Imperial Household Agency runs a de facto jewelry foundation, which clearly includes jewels that are no longer worn because of the deaths or marriages of their previous wearers. (The IHA, of course, won’t be commenting on that either way.) I’m hopeful that we’ll continue to see many of these jewels reappear on other women of the imperial family in the years to come.

This Week in Royal Jewels: September 22-28

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September 22-28, 2017
We’ve got a range of royal jewels on tap for you this week — don’t forget to vote for your favorites in the poll below!
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10. Queen Letizia of Spain wore her freshwater pearl drop earrings from Tous for a visit to a vocational training school in Teruel on Wednesday.

ROBIN UTRECHT/AFP/Getty Images
9. Black beaded earrings and a stack of bracelets, including her wedding bracelet and diamond initial bracelet, were Queen Maxima’s choices for a health care conference on Thursday in The Hague.
Eduardo Parra/Getty Images
8. On Friday, Queen Letizia wore her Tous ruby and emerald earrings for a Cancer Research World Day event in Madrid.
MARTIN BERNETTI/AFP/Getty Images
7. The Princess Akishino chose multicolored pearls and pearl button earrings to meet citizens of Japanese descent during the first day of her visit to Chile. (More over here!)
CLAUDIO REYES/AFP/Getty Images
6. For a wreath-laying ceremony in Santiago on Wednesday, Kiko chose more traditional pearl jewels. (More over here!)
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5. Queen Silvia of Sweden wore pearls and a modern brooch to receive a humanitarian award in Berlin on Tuesday. (More over here!)
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4. In Paris, Princess Sirivannavari of Thailand glittered in a traditional brooch at Tuesday’s Christian Dior show.
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3. Princess Nisreen El-Hashemite, granddaughter of King Faisal I of Iraq, wore golden floral jewelry to accept the 2017 Muhammad Ali Humanitarian Of The Year Award on Saturday in Louisville, Kentucky.
Chema Moya-Pool/Getty Images
2. At a gala celebrating free enterprise on Sunday in Madrid, Queen Sofia of Spain layered on jewelry, including pearl drop earrings and a pearl necklace with the ruby and diamond pendant that belonged to her late mother, Queen Friederike of Greece.
Kungahuset
1. For this week’s Representation Dinner in Sweden, Queen Silvia sparkled in a new pearl necklace with a large amethyst clasp. (See this thread at the RJWMB for a close-up!)

Japanese Imperial Jewels in South America

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CLAUDIO REYES/AFP/Getty Images

The Prince and Princess Akishino, the younger son and daughter-in-law of the Emperor and Empress of Japan, are currently on a week-long visit to Chile. Let’s have a look at the jewels that Kiko wore for the start of her South American trip, shall we?

MARTIN BERNETTI/AFP/Getty Images

On Tuesday, Fumihito and Kiko greeted Chilean citizens of Japanese descent in Santiago.

MARTIN BERNETTI/AFP/Getty Images

Kiko wore a modified version of the usual daytime Japanese imperial jewelry “uniform” — pearl earrings and a pearl necklace. For this event, though, Kiko’s button earrings were a bit larger than the usual ones worn, and her necklace was multicolored, with some of the beads appearing to have a distinctive dark blue hue.

CLAUDIO REYES/AFP/Getty Images

For Wednesday’s wreath-laying ceremony at Santiago’s monument to Bernardo O’Higgins, however, Kiko stuck to the more traditional white jewels worn by Japanese princesses at day engagements.

CLAUDIO REYES/AFP/Getty Images

Here’s a close look at her pearl earrings, single-stranded pearl necklace, and brooch. The silver-toned brooch features embellished, abstract leaf designs with a single pearl in its center.