Don’t Miss a Single Sparkling Moment! Sign up for The Court Jeweller Newsletter

The Court Jeweller

Sparkling Royal Jewels From Around the World

This Week in Royal Jewels: May 15-21

by // Leave a Comment

May 15-21, 2015
We’ve got a supersized edition of our jewel roundup this week! You’ve got plenty of choices to make in the poll below…
20. Norway celebrated its National Day on Sunday, and Queen Sonja celebrated by pinning her red-and-white ribbon to her jacket with a diamond brooch featuring a cross motif.

19. Crown Princess Mette-Marit and Princess Ingrid Alexandra of Norway also joined in the brooch parade. Mette-Marit secured her ribbon with a diamond star and crescent brooch, while Ingrid Alexandra looks to have selected a tiny gathering of diamonds.

18.  Queen Mathilde of the Belgians wore green hoop-style pendant earrings at the semi-finals of the Queen Elisabeth Violin Competition on Saturday.

17. Queen Maxima of the Netherlands wore pearls for a visit to the university in Utrecht on Monday.

16. Later in the week, the Belgian and Dutch queens joined forces at a sculpture exhibition in The Hague. Mathilde wore simple pearl and diamond stud earrings and a vibrant blue-and-orange outfit and hat…

15.  …while Maxima paired her blue-and-orange outfit and hat with vibrant orange and diamond pendant earrings and her usual bracelets. (Wouldn’t you have loved to listen to the phone calls these two made while planning their coordinating attire???)

14. In Britain, the royals gathered on Monday at the annual Chelsea Flower Show, where Prince Harry’s Sentebale charity presented a garden. The Queen wore the floral brooch given to her by the show organizers in 2012 as a Diamond Jubilee present.

13. The Duchess of Cornwall wore one of her growing collection of insect brooches — this time the diamond and sapphire butterfly — to view the flowers at Chelsea.

12. The Countess of Wessex went for simple jewelry at the flower show, donning diamond stud earrings and a silver pendant necklace.

11. Princess Anne also attended the flower show; she wore golden floral and pearl jewels.

10. In Spain, the royal family gathered to celebrate the first communion of the Princess of Asturias. Leonor wore her school uniform and blended in with the rest of her classmates (although she is wearing a small necklace as well), but her mother, Queen Letizia, was regal in a pair of earrings by Tous.

9. Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary of Denmark are on an official visit to Germany this week. On Tuesday in Hamburg, Mary wore a long pendant necklace.

8. At a dinner held in their honor in Munich on Wednesday evening, Mary paired bold earrings with an even bolder floral gown.

7. Mary selected pearl pendant earrings for a cooking demonstration in Munich on Thursday.

6. The Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall were also on an official trip this week, visiting the Republic of Ireland. Camilla chose a very appropriate shamrock-shaped brooch on Tuesday in Galway.

5. During an emotional visit to Mullaghmore (the site of Lord Mountbatten’s murder) on Wednesday, Camilla wore pearl earrings with a new brooch. The piece, which is shaped like a traditional Claddagh ring, was given to her at the Claddagh National School on Tuesday.

4. In Belfast on Thursday, Camilla paired one of her familiar pearl choker necklaces with the new Claddagh Brooch.

3. If you were looking for major sparkle this week, your search surely brought you to the film festival at Cannes. The French actress Clotilde Courau, who is married to Emanuele Filliberto of Savoy, posed for a portrait on Sunday in a glittering necklace and ring.

2. Also at Cannes: Charlotte Casiraghi, daughter of Princess Caroline of Monaco. She wore delicate diamond pendant earrings at a film premiere on Sunday.

1. The French riviera may be exciting, but I’m giving my top spot of the week to a stalwart favorite: the Jardine Star Brooch, which glittered on Queen Elizabeth II’s jacket at a garden party at Buckingham Palace on Wednesday.

Queen Máxima’s Harmony Earrings

by // Leave a Comment

One of Queen Máxima’s jewel trademarks is large, loud earrings — exuberant pieces of jewelry that frame her joyful face. Today, we’re looking at one of the most colorful pairs in her entire jewelry box.

These elaborate pendant earrings are the “Harmony” earrings from the Diane von Furstenberg for H. Stern collection. Set in 18ct yellow gold, they feature a rainbow of gemstones, including rubies, citrines, beryls, pink tourmalines, and diamonds.



The earrings are also convertible. They can be broken down into three parts. The top ruby stud can be worn independently, and the circular middle portion can be detached to be worn as a brooch.

Máxima has been wearing the Harmony earrings for a few years in their various forms, including during one of her first state visits as the Dutch queen consort.

Queen Máxima’s Wedding Tiara

by // Leave a Comment

The year is 2002, and our Magpie of the Month, Máxima Zorreguieta Cerruti, is preparing to marry the heir to the Dutch throne. If you’re a royal bride, you can play the wedding tiara game a few ways: you can opt for a safe choice (like the Duchess of Cambridge), you can wear an heirloom tiara (like Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden), you can go for no tiara at all (never something I’d personally advise), or you can go big. Máxima, being Máxima, went for major sparkle.

Máxima chose something of a frankentiara — a piece that features elements of two different items of jewelry mixed together to make a new tiara — for her wedding day. First, she selected the base of one of the Dutch royal family’s existing tiaras: the Pearl Button Tiara. There’s a debate about the actual age of the Pearl Button: some think that it was made in the twentieth century, while others argue that its base was a part of a coronet worn by Queen Sophie of the Netherlands, which would make it an earlier creation.

Rather than wearing the tiara with the pearl buttons, Queen Máxima chose to wear it on her wedding day with five of the diamond stars that belonged to Queen Emma. Emma had been given two sets of diamond star brooches when she married King Willem III in 1879. One set has stars with ten points; the other has stars with twelve.

Máxima chose the ten-pointed stars for her wedding tiara. On occasion, she also wears the twelve-pointed stars in other ways, including as pins on order sashes.

So far, only two members of the Dutch royal family have worn the star version of this tiara: Máxima and her husband’s aunt, Princess Margriet. It’s not a tiara that every princess could pull off — you need an element of pizzazz about you to make the stars work. But it’s practically perfect for Máxima, who absolutely oozes joie de vivre.