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Sparkling Royal Jewels From Around the World

Saturday Sparkler: Queen Wilhelmina’s Wedding Gift Tiara

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Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands [source]

The Dutch royal collection includes a number of large tiaras, but perhaps the biggest of all was a now-lost sparkler: the tiara from Queen Wilhelmina’s wedding gift parure. The enormous, elaborate diamond and sapphire tiara was made around 1900 by Vita Israel & Hoeting, a Dutch jeweler. The parure, which consisted of this tiara, a necklace (which is designed to mirror the tiara), and two bracelets, was a gift to the young Dutch queen from her people on the occasion of her wedding to Prince Henry of Mecklenburg-Schwerin.

Queen Wilhelmina [source]

The entire set included more than 800 diamonds and sapphires, all set in white gold. The tiara featured an especially large square diamond set in the center; this was said to have come from the Golkonda mine in India. The same mine has yielded several other immensely famous diamonds, including the Hope Diamond, the Koh-i-Noor Diamond, and the Noor-ol-Ain Diamond.

Queen Wilhelmina [source]

Easily one of the biggest tiaras to have graced any royal head, the wedding gift tiara was worn by Wilhelmina throughout her reign, and it was generally paired with the other pieces from the parure. But she was the only Dutch queen who would ever wear the tiara in public. In 1962, her daughter, Queen Juliana, had the tiara dismantled. Whether because the piece was difficult to wear or simply not in line with the current fashion, she chose the piece specifically to be broken up to make new jewels for her daughters.

Several new pieces were made using the stones from the tiara, including three pairs of earrings. Queen Maxima wore one of these pairs, the sapphire and diamond pendant earrings, for her husband’s inauguration in 2013. However, not all parts of the parure were completely dismantled. The necklace has been at least partly broken up, as five diamond and sapphire lozenges from that piece now sit atop the family’s sapphire necklace tiara. The bracelets still exist in the Dutch collection, though they have been modified.

Queen Wilhelmina [source]

Although it’s always a bit sad to see heirloom jewels dismantled, most seem to agree that this tiara, as large as it was, wouldn’t have been able to be easily worn today. What do all of you think — was it a good choice on Juliana’s part, or is it a shame that this piece no longer exists?

This Week in Royal Jewels: October 2-8

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October 2-8, 2015
We’ve got royal earrings and necklaces galore this week — be sure to vote for your favorites in the poll below!
10. On Monday, Princess Sofia of Sweden wore small diamond earrings, her engagement and wedding rings, and a Project Playground bracelet at the start of a two-day trip to her hometown, Dalarna. The pin she has affixed to her lapel is a small gold Dala horse, an icon of Dalarna and of Sweden in general. (Trivia: I put one on my Christmas tree every year!)

9. Queen Letizia of Spain wore her Tous pearl drop earrings at a journalism awards ceremony on Tuesday.

8. At Ascot Racecourse on Friday, the Countess of Wessex wore pearl cluster earrings by Dior.

7. Infanta Elena of Spain wore a brightly colored necklace and matching earrings in shades of blue and green in Seville on Monday.

6. Queen Maxima of the Netherlands also chose blue-toned beads on Monday, this time for a meeting with President Kagame of Rwanda.

5. For a luncheon on Tuesday with President Erdogan of Turkey, Queen Mathilde of the Belgians wore diamond earrings.

4. On Friday, Queen Sofia of Spain wore a black and white statement necklace and a glittering sunflower pin for the annual Red Cross fundraiser in Madrid.

3. Princess Anne of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, Dowager Duchess of Calabria (born Princess Anne of Orleans) was the picture of elegance in pearls as she greeted well-wishers on Wednesday following the death of her husband, Infante Carlos. He was a cousin of the reigning Spanish royals; his father, Infante Alfonso, was a grandson of King Alfonso XII of Spain. Carlos and his family follow the descendants of King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia in the line of succession to the Spanish throne. (Both of Juan Carlos’s sisters renounced their succession rights when they married.)

2. At the start of a state visit to Lithuania on Wednesday, Queen Silvia of Sweden wore pearls (including Princess Sibylla’s pearl necklace) to sign a guest book.

1. My top spot of the week goes to Princess Beatrix of the Netherlands. She glittered in diamonds — including the family’s floral bracelet, which some have speculated was a gift from the Sultan of Brunei — during a visit to Boston, where she attended an exhibit of paintings by Rembrandt and Vermeer.

This Week in Royal Jewels: September 25-October 1

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September 25-October 1, 2015
Autumn has officially begun in the northern part of the world, and this week’s royal jewels certainly reflect the changes in the season. Be sure to vote for your favorite jewels in the poll below!
10. The Duchess of Cambridge debuted a new pair of earrings at a Rugby World Cup match on Saturday: Catherine Zoraida’s Fern Hoop Earrings.

9. Also on the gold leaf earring bandwagon: Queen Mathilde of the Belgians, who wore a pair at a meeting with the media in Brussels on Tuesday.

8. Queen Sofia of Spain got the gold leaf memo, too: she wore a gold leaf brooch for an audience at Zarzuela Palace in Madrid on Tuesday.

7. Sofia’s daughter-in-law, Queen Letizia of Spain, opted for her ruby cabochon drop earrings for a visit to a vocational school on Thursday.

6. On Saturday, Queen Maxima of the Netherlands wore a dramatic pair of gemstone drop earrings for the final celebration of the 200th anniversary of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

5. At the same event, Princess Beatrix of the Netherlands wore her gorgeous pair of citrine and diamond earrings.

4. At the United Nations in New York on Tuesday, Queen Maxima selected gray pearl earrings and a coordinating necklace.

3. Queen Rania of Jordan was also in New York this week. On Monday, she wore a trendy pair of earrings to a luncheon at the Pierre Hotel.

2. Also in New York: Queen Silvia of Sweden, who wore pearls, diamonds, and emeralds at the World Childhood Foundation’s Thank You Gala last Thursday.

1. My top spot of the week goes to another attendant of the World Childhood Foundation Gala: Queen Rania, who wore an absolutely stunning (and really visually interesting) pair of diamond earrings.