The Dutch Sapphire Necklace Tiara

As our celebration of September’s birthstone draws to a close, we’ve got an especially innovative tiara creation on tap. Today’s sparkler, the Dutch Sapphire Necklace Tiara, is actually composed of a sapphire necklace supplemented by elements from another dismantled sapphire jewel.

While the necklace was not worn in public as a tiara until 2009, it has a much longer history. It began as a choker of diamonds and eleven sapphires and was purchased for Queen Emma by her husband, King Willem III. Along with other sapphire and diamond jewels, it was collected into a married parure.

Occasionally a sapphire pendant was added to the center of the choker. The necklace was lengthened in the first half of the twentieth century. With the extra length added, it could still be worn either with or without the pendant.

In the 21st century, the necklace was set on a tiara frame. The new tiara is topped by five lozenge-shaped sapphire and diamond ornaments. These pieces came from another item altogether: part of the sapphire and diamond “wedding gift parure” that was made by Israel and Hoetig and given to Queen Wilhelmina on behalf of the people of the Netherlands when she married in 1901. The five pieces were originally sections of the necklace from that parure, which was broken up in 1962 and used to make other smaller pieces of jewelry for the four daughters of Queen Juliana.

Princess Margriet began wearing the new tiara in 2009, and since then, both she and Queen Maxima have sported the sparkler at various occasions. Maxima chose the tiara for one of the biggest royal events of 2010: the 70th birthday celebrations for Queen Margrethe II of Denmark.

And in 2014, Princess Beatrix wore the piece for the first time during the official visit from Prince Albert II of Monaco.

At the start of King Willem-Alexander’s reign, I predicted that innovative smaller pieces like the sapphire necklace tiara would be more and more useful in the coming years, especially with three young Dutch princesses starting to attend tiara events. Indeed, the tiara has been worn in the past decade by Princess Mabel of Orange-Nassau, Princess Viktoria of Bourbon-Parma, and, more recently, by the Princess of Orange. Amalia chose the tiara for a gala celebrating the eighteenth birthday of one of her fellow heirs, Prince Christian of Denmark, in 2023.