Happy Birthday to Gloria, the Princess von Thurn und Taxis, who turns 63 today! The impoverished Schönburg-Glauchau Countess became the extravagant ‘Princess TNT’ in the 1980s and, after being widowed young, she transformed into a successful businesswoman to save the massive family fortune, facilitated through the sale of some family jewels, but much of the collection remains intact, so to mark her birthday, we are featuring the Thurn und Taxis Sapphire Bow Brooch!
Thurn und Taxis Tiaras | Emerald Tiara | Emerald and Ruby Choker | Sapphire Bow Brooch | Princess Olga’s Emerald Earrings
Featuring a massive sapphire surrounded by a diamond bow with a large pearl pendant, this brooch was likely made by F.Kreuter in Hanau around the same time as the family’s Sapphire Parure, in the 19th century, likely from old family stones.
Archduchess Margarethe Klementine of Austria, the 8th Princess of Thurn und Taxis was notably pictured wearing the Sapphire Bow Brooch at some point in the 1980s, and also wore it for a portrait with Empress Eugénie’s Pearl Tiara, which hangs at the family seat of Schloss Regensburg.
The Sapphire Bow Brooch got an extravagant wearer after Countess Gloria von Schönburg-Glauchau married Johannes, the 11th Prince of Thurn und Taxis in 1980, and the large Brooch was used by the new Princess in a. Variety of versatile ways, like when it was worn as the clasp of the family’s sapphire and diamond necklace for the 36th annual April in Paris Ball at the Waldorf Hotel in New York City in 1987, with a ridiculously outrageous hairstyle.
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Another notable appearance of the Sapphire Bow Brooch came at Rudolf Nureyev’s 51st Birthday at the Paris Opera in 1989, when the Brooch was worn in Princess Gloria’s hairstyle, paired with the Emerald and Ruby Choker and Princess Olga’s Emerald Earrings.
The Sapphire Bow Brooch was not among the Jewels sold at the famous Auction of the Thurn und Taxis Jewels in 1992, and has made a rare appearance during Princess Gloria’s widowhood, like in 1993, when it was worn with the Thurn und Taxis Sapphire Parure for the Wedding Ball of Hereditary Prince Alois of Liechtenstein and Duchess Sophie in Bavaria at Schloss Nymphenburg in 1993.
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A few years later, Princess Gloria wore the Sapphire Bow Brooch again, at the Wedding Gala of Archduke Georg of Austria and Duchess Eilika of Oldenburg in Budapest in 1997. Lets hope we see this spectacular heirloom worn again soon!
Thurn und Taxis Tiaras | Emerald Tiara | Emerald and Ruby Choker | Sapphire Bow Brooch | Princess Olga’s Emerald Earrings
