Princess Marie and Prince Joachim on their wedding day, 24 May 2008 (JEPPE MICHAEL JENSEN/AFP/Getty Images) |
Princess Marie and Prince Joachim on their wedding day, 24 May 2008 (Soren Bidstrup/AFP/Getty Images) |
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Sparkling Royal Jewels From Around the World
Princess Marie and Prince Joachim on their wedding day, 24 May 2008 (JEPPE MICHAEL JENSEN/AFP/Getty Images) |
Princess Marie and Prince Joachim on their wedding day, 24 May 2008 (Soren Bidstrup/AFP/Getty Images) |
Patrick van Katwijk/Getty Images |
King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima of the Netherlands are in Luxembourg for a state visit this week, and Maxima took the opportunity to debut a highly-anticipated jewel: the magnificent Stuart Tiara!
Keystone/Hulton Archive/Getty Images |
The tiara itself was slightly less magnificent than it’s been in past appearances. It’s been reworked significantly since we last saw the piece — which was during Queen Juliana’s reign. Here’s a look at her version of the tiara, worn here for her birthday celebrations in 1962. The tiara has been in the family since 1897; it was worn in 1898 for the first time by Queen Wilhelmina at her investiture. The Stuart Diamond itself has a much longer royal history.
Patrick van Katwijk/Getty Images |
But you’ll notice that there’s something very important missing from the tiara on this occasion. Maxima wore a lower-profile version of the sparkler — most notably, the Stuart Diamond itself was not worn at all! It has been removed from the piece on this occasion, along with part of the central element that supported it. (Queen Wilhelmina also wore a smaller, Stuart-less version of the tiara for her wedding in 1901 — this may be that setting.) The result, to my mind, is a much more wearable and balanced tiara, still incredibly sparkly and elaborate but less imposing.
Patrick van Katwijk/Getty Images |
The large round diamonds that used to sit atop the tiara on either side of the Stuart have also been removed. They’ve been repurposed as an enormous pair of diamond cluster earrings, which Maxima also wore tonight.
Patrick van Katwijk/Getty Images |
Here’s a closer view of the new version of the tiara. It does feel a little strange to call this “the Stuart Tiara” when the diamond is missing. (The Stuart-less Stuart?) I hope we see Maxima wear the diamond itself again soon — perhaps as a pendant on a necklace or a brooch.
Patrick van Katwijk/Getty Images |
Speaking of brooches, Maxima did also wear part of the large bow brooch from the Stuart Parure tonight. She wisely left off the necklace, which she debuted last year.
Patrick van Katwijk/Getty Images |
But she did wear diamonds on each wrist, including the diamond bracelet with her family’s initials.
Patrick van Katwijk/Getty Images |
The grand ducal family were the hosts of the evening, and Grand Duchess Maria Teresa sparkled in the classic Belgian Scroll Tiara, pairing it with her modern pair of diamond earrings with gray pearl drops.
Patrick van Katwijk/Getty Images |
Hereditary Grand Duchess Stephanie was also in attendance, wearing the family’s Chaumet Choker Tiara without its pearl toppers, plus one of the family’s diamond and sapphire necklaces and diamond and sapphire earrings.
The Farnese Blue Diamond is shown during an auction preview at Sotheby’s in London, 6 April 2018 (Tristan Fewings/Getty Images for Sotheby’s) |
In the middle of all of last week’s royal wedding hoopla, a major royal jewel auction took place at Sotheby’s in Geneva. An important gray-blue diamond, the Farnese Blue, was sold after centuries in royal hands.
The Farnese Blue Diamond (Sotheby’s) |
Sotheby’s describes the stone as “a pear-shaped fancy dark grey-blue diamond weighing 6.16 carats.” The rare diamond’s first documented owner was Elisabeth Farnese, the Italian-born queen consort of King Felipe V of Spain. She received the diamond, which was mined in India, as a wedding present from Martín de Ursúa y Arizmendi, the Governor-General of the Philippine Islands, in 1714. According to Vincent Meylan, who wrote the detailed lot notes on the diamond for Sotheby’s, Elisabeth gave the diamond to her second son, Philip, who later succeeded his maternal grandfather as Duke of Parma.
The Farnese Blue Diamond (Sotheby’s) |
Philip was the creator of the House of Bourbon-Parma, whose members successfully married into numerous royal families over the past several centuries. According to Meylan, the diamond remained with Philip’s direct line and was owned by successive Dukes of Parma, ending up in the collection of Elias of Bourbon-Parma, the youngest son of the last reigning duke. The diamond was offered for sale by “a princely family” from among Elias’s descendants. The most recent royal owner is not named, but it’s worth noting that Elias’s last surviving daughter, Alicia, died in March 2017.
The Farnese Blue Diamond is shown in its stick-pin fitting during an auction preview at Sotheby’s in London, 6 April 2018 (Tristan Fewings/Getty Images for Sotheby’s) |
Meylan’s notes also include the tantalizing detail that the diamond was once set in a tiara. (This is according to the personal jewelry inventory of Elias’s wife, Archduchess Maria Anna of Austria.) Today, the diamond is set in a detachable stick-pin fitting, where it is surrounded by a halo of collet-set cushion-shaped diamonds.
The Farnese Blue Diamond is shown during an auction preview at Sotheby’s in London, 6 April 2018 (Tristan Fewings/Getty Images for Sotheby’s) |
The auction estimate for the diamond was set between 3.5 and 5 million dollars, but when the hammer fell on March 15, an unnamed buyer purchased the stone for a whopping $6.7 million. The BBC quoted Daniela Mascetti, jewelry specialist from the auction house, on the sale: “Good jewels, well-designed, well-made, with a signature, with a perfect… slot in time, in age, do very well.” A bit of royal provenance never hurts, either.