Thank you to our community member Triple A for providing this in-depth information on the jewels Maxima has worn so far during the State Visit to India. We appreciate his quick response and willingness to share his expertise with the community. Unless otherwise noted, all photos have been provided by the author and remain their property. You can always catch up with his news on his Facebook page, too!
There are two theories about the huge pear shaped aquamarine which Máxima wore as a brooch attached to her diamond bow brooch during the first day in India. The first theory about this stunning jewel is that Prince Bernhard of Lippe-Biesterfeld gave this pear shaped aquamarine (which weighs about 90 carats!) to Crown Princess Juliana of the Netherlands in 1937, on the occasion of their wedding.
The other and more plausible theory about this pear shaped jewel is that it comes from Queen Anna Paulowna, wife of King Willem II. She owned a large pear shaped aquamarine, which she received from her husband as a birthday present in 1820. Her son, King Willem III, inherited this Brazilian aquamarine from his mother.
Queen Beatrix and Princess Laurentien wore it for the first time in 2013: Beatrix as a pendant attached to a diamond riviere necklace, whereas Laurentien chose to fix it to a adjusted version of the “Stuart” diamond bow brooch/devant-de-corsage.
The earrings of briolette cut aquamarines were a wedding present from Princess Juliana’s mother in law, Princess Armgard of Lippe-Biesterfeld, taken from her private jewel collection. As for many earrings of the Dutch royal collection, the pendants can be used in different earrings. Maxima wore the the “Mellerio” version in India.
The diamond bandeau tiara is one of the most original and impressive in the Dutch collection, and has no equivalent in other royal vaults. It looks simple because the stones set in the platinum frame don’t need an elaborate structure to be highlighted. There are twenty-seven huge old cut diamonds, each (!) weighing nearly or more than 20 carats, removed in the 1930’s from the diamond riviere originally set with thirty-four stones.
This necklace was given to Queen Emma of the Netherlands as a wedding present (together with a devant-de-corsage) when she married King Willem III in 1879. Made in Amsterdam by Alfred Josephus Jitta, the official court jeweler of Queen Sophie, the whereabouts of the seven remaining diamonds of the necklace are unknown.
Queen Wilhelmina wore the tiara only once, for her last official portrait. Queen Juliana and Princess Margriet made it one of their favorites. Today, Princess Beatrix (OMA) and Queen Màxima are the main wearers of this beautiful bandeau.
The pink diamond large brooch possibly belonged to the Russian Empress Maria Feodorovna, mother of Queen Anna Pavlovna of the Netherlands and grandmother of Queen Sophie (first wife of King Willem III). Sophie inherited this jewel from her mother, Grand-Duchess Catharina Pavlovna. (Queen of Württemberg). The jewel consists of a diamond open work or lace work bow containing five cushion cut pink diamonds. Queens Wilhelmina, Juliana, Beatrix and Maxima all wore this stunning piece in three different versions. Queen Maxima wore the shortest version in India. Maxima wore the two large and smaller round rose cut house diamonds, taken off from the “Stuart” Tiara as earrings.
Before we leave this dreamy post, let’s take a last long look at some fabulous tiara hair.
Thank you, Triple A, for enhancing our knowledge about these fabulous jewels!