Infanta Cristina’s Emerald Brooch

~ Saad719

Happy Birthday to Infanta Cristina of Spain, who turns 55 today! The disgraced sister of the Spanish King, the Infanta was a working member of the Spanish Royal family for almost three decades, though she had relatively few heirloom jewels in her procession, a major exception being this Emerald Brooch.

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In 1982, King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia made a state visit to Portugal. Don Juan and Doña Maria were guests of honor of the two receptions held during the visit. For the returning banquet at the Spanish Embassy, the Countess of Barcelona wore an emerald brooch with a coordinating pair of earrings. The earrings are now part of the collection of Infanta Margarita but with pearls instead of emeralds. The brooch (with the two additional drops hanging as pendants) was given by Doña Maria to her granddaughter Cristina on the occasion of her wedding in 1997. Infanta Cristina wore the brooch on many occasions and, like her grandmother, wore two of the emerald pendants as earrings. The earrings were also loaned to her sister, Infanta Elena. #Theory Queen Amelie of Portugal outlived both her sons and had no direct descendants. Her possessions were mostly divided between her siblings, nieces and nephews. It is known that the Queen’s niece, Doña Esperanza of Orléans the Countess of Barcelona’s sister, inherited an emerald bracelet, some pendants and a brooch. The Count of Paris inherited a beautiful parure of emeralds. The brooch that Doña Esperanza inherited was given to Amelie as a wedding gift by her uncle, the Duke of Aumale, and reportedly came from the collection of Queen Marie Amelie of the French. Originally the brooch had some pendants that were never seen again after Queen Amelie’s death. IMO this pendants could’ve been used to create the brooch that the Countess of Barcelona wore at the dinner in 1982. Doña Maria de las Mercedes was also a niece of Queen Amelie so it makes sense that she inherited something too. The emeralds seems to match the ones on the original brooch and even the diamonds are similar. Check the photos and tell me what you think! In the last photo you have the brooch (minus the pendants) inherited by Doña Esperanza and that her daughter sold at auction.

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Featuring a diamond circle with four emeralds, this brooch was pictured on the Countess of Barcelona during a Dinner at the Spanish Embassy in Lisbon during King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia’s State Visit to Portugal. While the provenance of the brooch is unclear, the Spanish Royal Jewels account believes that it could originate from her aunt Queen Amelie of Portugal, in turn received jewels from Queen Marie Amelie of France.

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In 1997, the Countess of Barcelona gave her the Emerald Brooch as a wedding gift to her granddaughter, Infanta Cristina, who has not only worn it more traditionally as a brooch, but has also worn two of the emeralds as earrings, like at the Wedding of Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark in 2004, and the following week, she wore the Brooch on a ribbon as a choker for Crown Prince Felipe’s Pre Wedding Dinner.

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Infanta Cristina has also loaned the Emerald Earrings to her sister, Infanta Elena, who wore them for Crown Princess Victoria’s Wedding Gala in 2010. Infanta Cristina has only recently started to remerge from the scandal that rocked her family, so lets hope we see these royal hierlooms soon.

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💎Broche de lágrimas de Esmeraldas 💎 🇪🇸 Es un broche con un círculo de diamantes con 4 esmeraldas, 2 de ellas tipo lágrima que pueden ser desmontable. Según la revista @holacom pertenecen a la reina Sofía quien, con toda probabilidad pudo haberlas heredado de su bisabuela paterna, la gran duquesa Olga de Rusia. No hay fotografía de la reina Sofía usando esta pieza. Sin embargo, hay una foto de la condesa de Barcelona que pareciera tener este broche (vía @spanishroyaljewels). El broche ha sido lucido por la Infanta Cristina, y las dos esmeraldas tipo lagrima la han lucido como pendientes la infanta Elena y Cristina. Que opinas? 🇬🇧 It is a brooch with a circle of diamonds with 4 emeralds, 2 of them teardrop that can be detachable. According to HOLA magazine they belong to Queen Sofia who, in all probability, may have inherited them from her paternal great-grandmother, the Grand Duchess Olga of Russia. There is no photograph of Queen Sofia wearing this piece. However, there is a photo of the Countess of Barcelona that appears to have this piece. The brooch has been worn by the Infanta Cristina, and the two teardrop emeralds have been worn as earrings by the Infanta Elena and Cristina. What do you think? – – – – #borbon #joyasreales #tiara #brillantes #condesasebarcelona #reinaletizia #infantadeespaña #reyes #royals #espana #joyasdepasar #jj #jj_forum #followtofollow #igers #igdaily #post #reyfelipevi #reinasofia #reinavictoriaeugenia #likeforlikes #infantacristina #reinavictoriaeugenia #queensophia #princess #royaljewels #infantaelena

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