Queen Victoria Eugenie’s Aquamarine Parure

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Happy Birthday to Princess Sibilla of Luxembourg, who turns 52 today! One of the many illustrious brides to marry into the Grand Ducal Family in recent years, since we have already featured her Art Deco Tiara, today we are taking a look at Queen Victoria Eugenie’s Aquamarine Parure.

The Aquamarine Parure consists of a Diamond Circle Tiara set with pear-shaped Brazilian aquamarines, an Art Deco sautoir with a large aquamarine pendant, a pair of earrings, a brooch set with a large faceted aquamarine and a massive briolette aquamarine pendant, a bracelet, and a ring.

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In the 1900s, Queen Victoria Eugenie of Spain received a Tiara made by Ansorena from her husband, King Alfonso XIII, after she has seen a similar diadem and dropped a few subtle hints. The original Tiara was set with drop pearls, which Queen Victoria Eugenie had reset with Brazilian Aquamarines in the 1920s, which she wore with her Art Deco Aquamarine Parure.

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In 2013, three pieces from the property of Don Marco Alfonso Torlonia, Principe di Civitella Cesi wore put up for sale at Christie’s. These items were part of his inheritance from his mother, Infanta Beatriz. One of those pieces was a diamond bracelet designed by Bulgari. This piece was a present from Prince Alessandro to his wife, Beatriz. Mounted in platinum, it is set with brilliant and cushion shaped diamonds. Other of the pieces was a pair of massive diamond earrings. Each top is set with a cushion-shaped diamond within a brilliant-cut diamond surround, suspending a pear-shaped diamond, weighing approximately 8.16 and 6.90 carats, enhanced by two rows of brilliant-cut diamonds. The earrings were sold for more than 300.000€ but the bracelet was not sold. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ En 2013, tres piezas de la propiedad de Don Marco Alfonso Torlonia, Principe di Civitella Cesi, se pusieron a la venta en Christie’s. Estos artículos forman parte de la herencia de su madre, la Infanta Beatriz. Una de esas piezas es una pulsera de diamantes firmada por Bulgari. Esta pieza fue un regalo del príncipe Alessandro a su esposa, Beatriz. Montado en platino, está engastado con diamantes talla brillante y cushion. Otra de las piezas era un par de pendientes de diamantes enormes. Cada parte superior está engastada con un diamante dentro de un anillo de diamantes de corte brillante, que suspende un diamante en forma de pera, con pesos aproximados de 8.16 y 6.90 quilates, realzado por dos filas de diamantes de talla brillante. Los pendientes se vendieron por más de 300.000 € pero el brazalete no se vendió.

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Mia nonna Beatrice

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In 1935, Queen Victoria Eugenie gave her Aquamarine Parure as a Wedding Gift to her daughter Infanta Beatriz when she married the Prince of Civitella-Cesi. Finding the original Tiara too fragile for the large aquamarines, Infanta Beatriz had the stones reset by Bulgari to create the Diamond Circle Tiara we see today, similar to the Vladimir Tiara in the British royal collection. The Aquamarine Parure was often worn by Infanta Beatriz, who also used the Tiara without the pear-shaped aquamarines. Notable occasions include the Wedding Ball of Prince Juan Carlos of Spain and Princess Sophia of Greece in 1962 and Infanta Pilar’s Pre-Wedding Ball in 1967.

The Tiara was worn by Infanta Beatriz’s daughter, Dona Olimpia Torlonia at her wedding in 1965, and the Aquamarine Parure was inherited by her and her elder sister, Countess Sandra Lecquio di Assaba after the Infanta’s death in 2002. Dona Olimpia wore the Tiara at the Wedding of Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark in 2004 and the late Countess Sandra wore the Parure at the Crown Prince Felipe’s Pre Wedding Dinner the following week.

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After some rumours that King Juan Carlos had been inquiring about buying the Parure from his cousins, in 2012, Princess Sibilla of Luxembourg, daughter of Dona Olimpia, wore the Tiara, Earrings, Brooch, and Bracelet, with a large diamond riviere, at the Pre-Wedding Gala of her nephew, Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume.

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In recent years, the Tiara has gone on display at the Bulgari exhibition at the Kremlin in Moscow. As the most high profile of Infanta Beatriz’s grandchildren, it is expected that Princess Sibilla will inherit the parure, though the eventual fate remains unknown.

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Today let’s talk about one of the many parures worn by Queen Ena. This one it is still in the possession of her descendants but has undergone many alterations throughout the years. It all started with a tiara made in platinum, pavé set diamonds and pearls, consisting of five elements in a horseshoe arch with floral garlands, topped by a lacing and a knob motif. The piece was ordered by King Alfonso to the crown jeweller, Ansorena. Some time later, Ansorena added two more arches to the tiara and developed a system so that the piece could be worn in a more opened way. As fashion changed, ladies started to wear her tiaras more close to the forehead than on the top of very elaborate bouffants. The pearls were swapped by a set of seven large Brazilian aquamarines in briolette cut. To accompany her new aquamarine tiara, Queen Victoria Eugenie also got a new art deco inspired set. It consists of an enormous sautoir necklace made of nine large rectangular aquamarines with a Greek pattern suspending a large drop pendant, a bracelet, a pair of earrings (very similar to the ones part of the Joyas de Pasar), a large oval brooch with a briolette pendant and a ring. In 1935, when Infanta Beatriz married Alessandro Torlonia, Prince of Civitella Cesi, she received this luscious aquamarine parure as a wedding gift from her mother. But after years of wear, the tiara’s structure became very frail and was not strong enough to sustain the weight of the large aquamarine drops. This is when the Tiara got it’s present appearance: Beatriz commissioned Bulgari to redesign it. They created a new frame for the aquamarine drops, featuring a design of interlocking circles that echoes the Vladimir tiara, now in the British royal collection. Doña Beatriz wore the tiara in an all diamond version (without the aquamarine drops) on many occasions. Her daughter Olimpia also wore the piece that way on her wedding to Paul Weiller in 1965. After the death of Infanta Beatriz, in 2002, the tiara remained with her descendants. Both Sandra and Olimpia have worn the tiara and/or parts of the parure on different occassions. (Continue in the comments ⬇️)

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3 thoughts on “Queen Victoria Eugenie’s Aquamarine Parure”

  1. Well, whatever the fate of the tiara, I hope it is not the auctioneer’s block. That would only mean either a museum which means it’ll never get used again or some private collector which means we’ll never get to see it again. I hope it passes on to Princess Sibilla so that she can continue wearing it as well as her descendants and relatives. I think these beautiful jewels deserve to be worn and not just exhibited!

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  2. Oooh, how I really wish the original tiara setting was kept 💔 They could have still made the 2nd Vlad wanna be setting and switched the aquamarines out for light weight pearls or even diamonds if the original tiara was indeed too fragile for the large aquamarines. The original tiara reminds me so much of the Connaught Diamond Tiara belonging to the Swedish Royal Family. I’d love to see the two up close and side by side. The first tiara was just so romantic, airy and delicate looking despite it being a very tall and substantial piece. I love the balance of the original tiara. I do think I like the Aquamarine drops with the newer Vlad wanna be, more then I like the Vlad with the pearls or the emeralds. It was my fav emerald tiara until Eugenie’s wedding kikoshnik. I think the aquamarines would have actually brought out qe2’s eyes, but the cambridge emeralds are glowing facets of kryptonite regardless if they make the queens eye color pop. I would love to see another tiara made to look more like the original to switch the aquamarines out

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  3. Pingback: Empress Eugenie's Emeralds - The Beau Monde

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