Dutch Emerald Tiara

Happy Birthday to the Princess of Orange, who is turning 19 today! The eldest of the Dutch Royal ‘A-Team’ who is set to be the fourth Queen Regnant of the Netherlands, the Dutch Heiress has expressed an interest in royal jewels (If you are reading this YRH, we have some suggestions), and has already worn quite a few splendid jewels from the massive family collection, including pieces from the spectacular Dutch Emerald Parure!

Dutch Diamond Stars | Dutch Emerald Parure | Mellerio Ruby Tiara | Dutch Royal Jewels

Created by Johann Eduard Schürmann & Co in Frankfurt in 1896, as a Christmas gift from Queen Emma of the Netherlands to her daughter, the then 16-year old Queen Wilhelmina, the Parure consisting of a Tiara, a Necklace, Earrings, a Brooch, Bracelets, and a Ring, which are all extremely versatile. The emeralds themselves date from the 18th century and were brought to the Netherlands by Princess Wilhelmina of Prussia when she married Prince Willem V of Orange-Nassau in 1767, and included the spectacular Duck-Egg Emerald Pendant. The ‘V’ shaped Tiara was originally topped with three pear shaped emerald clusters, which were removed in the 50s to make earrings, and two smaller emerald and diamond clusters have now been moved to the upper sides of the tiara, and these days the Tiara is also worn with pearls and also without any other stones. The versatile necklace has an intricate design interspersed with small emeralds, which a detachable large pendant, from which the Duck-Egg Emerald Pendant could be hung, as well as a square emerald clasp, which is what is usually worn as the central element these days. The age brooch can also be worn with various pendants.

While it was a gift to Queen Wilhelmina, she was rarely pictured wearing her Emerald Parure, with a notable appearance in the 1890s, another in the 1930s, and one more in 1956, for Princess Beatrix’s 18th Birthday Gala, when she appears to have worn the brooch as the centre of the Tiara.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by The Royal Watcher (@the_royal_watcher)

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Dutch Royal Jewels (@dutchroyaljewels)

Queen Juliana got much more use of the Emerald Parure, wearing it for a Dinner at the Dutch Embassy in London in 1937, as well as numerous portraits and galas through to the 1970s, often wearing the tiara upside down, like she did for the Thai State Visit to The Netherlands in 1960. It was Queen Juliana who put the Parure into the Stichting Historische Verzamelingen Huis van Oranje-Nassau in the 60s, to allow it to be worn by all members of the Dutch Royal Family without being inherited or sold.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by The Royal Watcher (@the_royal_watcher)

The Tiara was also worn upside down by Princess Irene in the 1960s, while Princess Margriet has worn the piece most often, including for Queen Juliana’s Silver Anniversary Gala in 1962, the Wedding Ball of Princess Beatrix in 1966, as well as for her Wedding Gala of Princess Margriet at the Museum De Lakenhal in Leiden in 1967, alongside numerous occasions up to this day, like the Jordanian State Visit to the Netherlands in 2006, the Gala Dinner for the Diplomatic Crops in 2017, and the Peter Stuyvesant Ball. Princess Margriet is the only person to hear worn the Tiara without any emeralds or pearls for the State Visit from Luxembourg in 2006.

Princess Beatrix also wore the Tiara and Parure, quite frequently in the 1960s, but also in the 1990s and 2000s, most notably for a State Visit to Indonesia in 1995, while making a lot of use of the versatile parure, wearing the necklace, earrings, and brooch in various configurations.