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Sparkling Royal Jewels From Around the World

Queen Juliana’s Turquoise Heart Necklace

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Our glimpse into the bejeweled world of Queen Juliana of the Netherlands, our Magpie of the Month, continues today with a unique piece: her Turquoise Heart Necklace.

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Long necklaces were always staples in Juliana’s jewelry box, and this necklace, which features a large heart pendant, was one of the many she wore regularly with daywear. An early appearance of the piece came in October 1962, when she wore the necklace for a meeting with Prime Minister Emanuels of Suriname and Prime Minister Williams of Trinidad.

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This closer view from that appearance shows the elaborate design of the necklace’s chain. Both the chain and the heart pendant are made of gold set with turquoises, diamonds, and pearls. The complicated pattern of decoration of the pendant doesn’t show up accurately in detail in old photographs, often giving the piece a flat appearance (when in reality it’s anything but flat).

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The heart pendant is detachable from its coordinating chain, and Juliana also wore it on other, simpler chains. In November 1962, she paired a shorter chain with the pendant for the opening of a university in Tilburg.

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In 1965, she strung the pendant on a longer simple chain for a visit to Utrecht.

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But she also often wore the pendant on its original chain, as she did during this engagement in The Hague in April 1971.

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The pendant remained a part of Juliana’s jewelry wardrobe until the very end of her reign. Here, she wears the pendant on a braided chain during a visit from President Rahman of Bangladesh in April 1979.

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The lighting of the black and white photographs taken during the presidential visit in 1979 finally capture the design of the pendant in greater detail. Images taken from various angles help to demonstrate the depth of the design of the piece.

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In 1975, the piece was a romantic addition to the official engagement announcement of Juliana’s youngest daughter, Princess Christina, and Jorge Pérez y Guillermo, which took place on Valentine’s Day. Juliana loaned her daughter the heart pendant and its matching chain for the occasion.

Paul Kane/Getty Images

More recently, the necklace emerged once more on Queen Maxima, who wore it during a visit to Australia in October 2016.

Paul Kane/Getty Images

During Maxima’s engagements in Fremantle, we got several good detail images of the necklace, including this view of the piece’s matching chain. You’ll note the intricacy of the gold setting, as well as the turquoises, pearls, and diamonds set in the chain.

Paul Kane/Getty Images

Even in today’s world of high-res photography, the complexity of the design of the heart pendant makes it difficult to capture its details in a still image — but Maxima’s October 2016 appearance helped us see the pendant in (at least most of) its colorful glory.

Royal Blue Sparkle for Queen Maxima

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Patrick van Katwijk/Getty Images

Queen Maxima of the Netherlands was out and about on Monday, and she wore some stunning jewels in shades of blue.

Patrick van Katwijk/Getty Images

The occasion for the jewel wearing? Maxima was in Veghel, where she attended the opening of the Blauwe Kei Theater at CHV Noordkade, an industrial heritage complex.

Patrick van Katwijk/Getty Images

For the occasion, Maxima wore a lovely pair of earrings from the royal vaults: dramatic diamond earrings with the briolette aquamarine pendants once owned by Queen Juliana.

Patrick van Katwijk/Getty Images

Here’s a closer view of the earrings, which feature a diamond circle stud with an open center.

Patrick van Katwijk/Getty Images

Maxima wore her customary stack of bracelets, including the golden bracelet set with cabochon gems and engraved with the names of her family members. You’ll also note an intriguing ring hidden under the bouquet held in her hand.

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Here’s a closer look at the large rectangular ring, which features a vibrant blue gem set in a modern double cluster of diamonds.

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And here’s a better look at Maxima’s entire ensemble for the theater opening.

Queen Juliana’s Inauguration Jewels

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Keystone/Hulton Archive/Getty Images

Seventy years ago today, Queen Juliana of the Netherlands was officially sworn in as the nation’s monarch. To mark the anniversary, we’ve got a closer look today at the jewels that Juliana — who is also our Magpie of the Month! — wore for her formal inauguration.

On September 6, 1948 — two days after her mother, Queen Wilhelmina, had abdicated — Juliana arrived at the Nieuwe Kerk in Amsterdam for a special joint session of the States General. In front of the nation’s elected officials, and royals from across Europe, and with her husband, Prince Bernhard, by her side, Juliana officially became Queen of the Netherlands. The Dutch royal regalia, which is not physically worn or used during the country’s inauguration ceremonies, rested nearby on a cushion.

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According to press reports, Juliana had originally intended to wear a tiara for her inauguration — more specifically, according to the Chicago Tribune, “a diamond tiara worn by the retiring Wilhelmina at her enthronement” in 1898. (That would be the Stuart Tiara.) Juliana ultimately wore the Stuart for a theater gala held during the inauguration festivities, but for the ceremony itself, she chose a very different kind of headpiece.

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Instead of a tiara, Juliana chose to wear a Juliet cap, an open-work cap frequently decorated with gemstones (and named after the Shakespeare character). Juliana’s cap was “crowned by a diamond star and edged in pearls,” with “four smaller diamond stars,” more pearls, and rubies. The cap was reportedly designed “especially to flatter its wearer” and made using gemstones from the family’s jewelry collections.

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The press also correctly noted that Juliana paired her bejeweled cap with ruby and diamond pieces from the family’s jewelry vaults. She paired the necklace from the Ruby Peacock Parure (borrowed from Wilhelmina) with the ruby cluster drop earrings and large ruby and diamond stomacher from the Mellerio Ruby Parure. A ruby and diamond bracelet from her mother’s collection completed her jewelry.

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The complete look was a unique one. Newspapers noted that the “lavish use of rubies blends her jewelry with the red and purple velvet of her enthronement robes.”

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Juliana’s decision to eschew a tiara puts her at odds with the other modern Dutch queens when it comes to inauguration jewelry. Her daughter, Beatrix, wore the Pearl Button Tiara for her swearing-in ceremony in 1980, while Queen Maxima wore a modified version of the Dutch Sapphire Parure Tiara for the inauguration of her husband, King Willem-Alexander, in 2013.