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: January 8-14

by // Leave a Comment

January 8-14, 2016
We’re back with our weekly roundup of royal jewels! See what pieces were out and about this week, and vote for your favorite in the poll below!
10. Photographers gave us a good look at the Duchess of Cambridge’s Kiki McDonough citrine earrings on Sunday at a ceremony marking the centenary of the end of the Gallipoli campaign.

9. In Madrid, Queen Letizia of Spain wore her cabochon ruby earrings at a drug addiction charity meeting on Tuesday.

8. Letizia selected her Links of London Hope Egg earrings on Friday for a series of audiences at Zarzuela Palace.

7. On Tuesday, Queen Mathilde of the Belgians wore diamond and pearl earrings to welcome Queen Rania of Jordan to Brussels.

6. In an event from last week’s calendar, Queen Maxima of the Netherlands wore an impressive pair of spherical statement earrings at an awards ceremony in Lisse.

5. Princess Beatrix of the Netherlands wore gold jewelry on Wednesday to the annual New Year’s reception for the diplomatic corps in Amsterdam.

4. For the same diplomatic reception, Maxima chose the diamond pendant earrings from Queen Juliana’s collection, wearing them with citrine drops.

3. Maxima wore diamonds and emeralds — a pair of glittering earrings and a butterfly brooch — for Tuesday’s reception at the Royal Palace in Amsterdam.

2. Of all the royals who gathered for the 95th birthday celebrations of Grand Duke Jean of Luxembourg, for me the most impressive jewelry-wearer was his elder daughter, Archduchess Marie Astrid. She wore a gorgeous pearl choker necklace with a jeweled clasp and coordinating pearl drop earrings. (ETA: Drat, foiled by Twitter! This picture is from Jean’s 90th birthday celebration in 2011. Still love the necklace!)

1. My list this week is book-ended by the Windsors at the Gallipoli campaign commemoration. My top spot goes, as it so often does, to Queen Elizabeth II. She wore her Pearl Triangle Brooch, which features two large pearls and a yellow diamond.

Royal Jewels of 2015: The Top Ten Jewel Moments

by // Leave a Comment

We’ve had a fair bit of royal sparkle to enjoy this year, magpies! Here’s my list of the top ten royal jewel moments of the year. There were so many to choose from — settle in with a glass of celebratory champagne, and then tell us about your favorite bejeweled moments of 2015 in the comments below!

10. Queen Maxima at the Danish State Banquet

When Maxima arrived at Christiansborg Palace for a state banquet this March, I know I wasn’t the only one who gasped. She paired her gown from the 2013 inauguration ceremonies with the full version of the grand Dutch Sapphire Tiara, plus other diamond and sapphire pieces, including the stunning sapphire wing brooch.

9. Queen Letizia in the Ansorena Tiara

Denmark was also the site of Queen Letizia’s big jewelry moment of 2015. At Queen Margrethe’s 75th birthday gala, she wore the diamond and pearl tiara made for her by Ansorena for the very first time. As a bit of icing on the cake, she also donned a wedding ring at the event for the first time in years.

8. Princess Madeleine at the Nobel Prize Ceremony

The Nobel ceremonies in Stockholm almost always offer us an important jewelry moment for the year, and this time around the superstar was Princess Madeleine. She borrowed the amazing aquamarine kokoshnik tiara that had belonged to her grandmother, Princess Sibylla, for the December 10th banquet. The incredible blue aquamarines were a great complement to Madeleine’s blue eyes.

7. Princess Caroline at the Rose Ball

Monaco has never been the most glittering principality in Europe, but Princess Caroline stepped up her game at this year’s Rose Ball, wearing her diamond fringe necklace with a lovely pair of diamond earrings that had belonged to her grandmother, Princess Charlotte.

6. The Duchess of Cornwall at a Royal Film Premiere

Camilla is one of the very best at carrying off major pieces of royal jewelry, and the new ruby demi-parure that she debuted in February at the premiere of The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel was no exception.

5. The Duchess of Cambridge at the Chinese State Banquet

When Kate arrived at her very first state banquet in October, she did so wearing pieces of jewelry that linked her to generations of queens past: the Lotus Flower Tiara from the collection of the Queen Mother, a diamond bracelet made from a choker that had belonged to Queen Mary, and diamond earrings borrowed from the present Queen. But it was the diamond bracelet that she borrowed from the Queen — a wedding gift from Prince Philip made with Romanov diamonds — that really spoke to her place in the family’s affections.

4. Queen Elizabeth II in the Crown Rubies

At Royal Ascot this year, the Queen wore an incredibly important British royal heirloom for the first time in public: the brooch from the crown ruby demi-parure, which dates to the reign of Queen Victoria. Even better, at a state banquet in Germany, she wore the brooch with its coordinating necklace and earrings. The crown rubies are traditionally paired with the Oriental Circlet; maybe we’ll eventually see her wear that combo in the future?



3. The Duchess of Cambridge in the Lover’s Knot Tiara

For years, many of us assumed that we wouldn’t see Queen Mary’s Lover’s Knot Tiara again in public until Prince William’s daughter came of age. Too many associations with Diana, we all assumed. Turns out we were seriously wrong — a lesson we all learned when Kate arrived at the December diplomatic reception confidently balancing the historic tiara on her own crown.

2. Queen Mathilde in the Wolfers Tiara

After Queen Fabiola’s death in 2014, it was announced that all of her belongings were being given to charity. While that gesture was typical of her generosity, it was frightening for those of us who hoped that her major jewels had remained with the Belgian royal family. When her niece-in-law, Queen Mathilde, showed up at a state banquet in October wearing one of Fabiola’s pieces, the Wolfers Tiara, I think we all breathed a collective sigh of relief.

1. Queen Maxima at the Swedish Royal Wedding

The jewels weren’t new to us, and she wasn’t the star of the show, but really, did any royal lady wear jewels better in 2015 than Maxima did at Prince Carl Philip’s wedding in June? She wore the century-old Mellerio Ruby Parure as if it had been made just for her. Absolutely stunning!

Royal Jewels of 2015: The Tiara Debuts

by // Leave a Comment

Is there anything more exciting than a royal lady showing up at an event in a tiara she’s never worn before? (Really, is there???) This year, we were treated to several tiara debuts, both of brand-new pieces and major heirlooms.

Queen Mathilde in the Nine Provinces Tiara



Queen Mathilde of the Belgians had worn the meander bandeau base of the Nine Provinces Tiara before, but in April she stepped out in the full, majestic version of the tiara of Belgium’s queens for the first time. She wore the complete ’20s-era tiara, with its topper diamonds and arches, at the gala held at Christiansborg Palace for Queen Margrethe II of Denmark’s 75th birthday.

Queen Letizia in the Asturias Ansorena Tiara



The Christiansborg gala was also the place where Queen Letizia of Spain brought out a new tiara for the first time: the diamond and pearl tiara made for her by Ansorena. The piece was somewhat controversial, with questions about who commissioned it and who paid for it, and I speculated that an event outside of Spain may have been an excellent opportunity to premiere it!

Princess Sofia in her wedding tiara



In June, Sofia Hellqvist arrived at her wedding to Prince Carl Philip of Sweden wearing a previously-unseen diamond and emerald tiara. The piece has become her go-to tiara; she wore it at two separate appearances during the recent Nobel festivities in Stockholm.

Crown Princess Victoria in the Connaught Diamond Tiara

Sofia wasn’t the only one wearing a new tiara at her wedding: her sister-in-law, Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden, wore the delicate Connaught Diamond Tiara for the first time in public. She also chose the tiara later in the year for the annual Nobel banquet.

Princess Tatiana in a Bulgari tiara

One more tiara debut at the Swedish royal wedding: Tatiana, the wife of Prince Nikolaos of Greece and Denmark, wore a small diamond tiara by Bulgari for the first time.

Queen Mathilde in the Wolfers Tiara



Mathilde had another tiara surprise up her sleeve this year. At a state banquet in October, she shocked royal watchers by wearing the Wolfers Tiara, a jewel from the collection of the late Queen Fabiola. After Fabiola’s death, the fate of some of her grandest jewels was left uncertain, but this tiara appearance revealed that at least some of her pieces are still with the Belgian royals — good news for a royal collection that is relatively small!

The Duchess of Cambridge in Queen Mary’s Lover’s Knot Tiara



How stunned were we all in December when Kate arrived at the annual Buckingham Palace diplomatic reception wearing the Lover’s Knot Tiara? Unseen in public for more than two decades, many thought the tiara’s strong associations with the late Princess Diana would keep it in the vaults for years to come. But Kate is proving to be braver about her mother-in-law’s legacy than many of us predicted…

Princess Madeleine in the Swedish Aquamarine Kokoshnik



The Nobel Prize Ceremony in Sweden is always a jeweled delight, and this year it came with a tiara debut, as Princess Madeleine wore the aquamarine kokoshnik that belongs to her aunt, Princess Margaretha. Although Margaretha apparently still owns the tiara, it’s clearly been made available for other Bernadotte women to wear, which is good news for those of us who love seeing this piece sparkle in public!