Nobel Tiara Prize: Victoria’s Fringe vs Victoria’s Steel

Crown Princess Victoria’s 2005 Nobel appearance in diamonds, sapphires, and pearls beat the competition in round one!

For her appearance at the Nobel Prize ceremony and banquet on December 10, 2005, Crown Princess Victoria shimmered in a silver gown with a band of beaded floral embroidery at the waist.

With the gown, she wore jewels that belonged to her ancestor and namesake, Queen Victoria of Sweden, who was the daughter of Grand Duke Friedrich I and Grand Duchess Luise of Baden.

The classic diamond fringe tiara was the elder Victoria’s wedding present from her parents, given to her when she married the future King Gustaf V of Sweden in 1881. The jewel can be removed from its tiara frame and worn as a necklace or a corsage ornament.

The grand necklace that Crown Princess Victoria wore for the 2005 Nobels also came from Queen Victoria of Sweden’s collection. The piece is referred to as the intågssmycket, or “processional jewelry.” As the name suggests, the diamond, pearl, and sapphire necklace was given to Victoria of Baden to wear on her arrival in Stockholm in 1881.

Crown Princess Victoria let the tiara and necklace shine, keeping the rest of her jewelry fairly simple: pearl drop earrings, a diamond floral brooch, and a diamond bracelet.

Will Crown Princess Victoria’s 2016 Nobel appearance in the grand Napoleonic Cut-Steel Tiara and the Cameos be victorious again this round?

Crown Princess Victoria wowed us all with a billowing ballgown from H&M when she arrived for the Nobel Prize ceremony in Stockholm on December 10, 2016.

She picked up the metallic thread in the gown by wearing a golden tiara from the family vaults.

The unique Napoleonic Cut-Steel Tiara is a rare diadem that shines without diamonds, using gleaming polished steel and rich yellow gold instead. The tiara originally belonged to Hortense de Beauharnais, daughter of Empress Josephine and, for a time, Queen of Holland. It came to Sweden decades later when it was inherited by Hortense’s niece, Queen Josefina.

Victoria paired the unusual tiara with the earrings, necklace, brooch, and bracelet from the stunning Cameo Parure, a suite of jewelry that was made for Hortense’s mother, Empress Josephine of France.

The gorgeous cameos are a natural pair with the cut-steel tiara, echoing the Bernadottes’ roots at the court of the Bonapartes. And the cameos are also important to Victoria for a more sentimental reason: she wore them on her wedding day in 2010.