Queen Victoria of Sweden’s Baroque Pearl Brooch

Today marks the Anniversary of the Birth of Queen Victoria of Sweden, who was born on this day in 1862! The Baden Princess brought a plethora of jewels into the Swedish Royal Family when she married the future King Gustav V of Sweden in 1881, including this spectacular Baroque Pearl Brooch!

The exact origin of this spectacular Baroque Pearl and diamond brooch is unknown but it was described among the possessions of King Gustaf V and Queen Victoria as a “brooch of one large baroque pearl surrounded by sprigs of brilliants.”

Queen Victoria notably wore the Baroque Pearl Brooch for a series of portrait by Ernest Florman taken around 1905, and it remained with King Gustaf V until his passing in 1950, when it was valued at 3400 SEK (h/t to Sarah).

Queen Silvia began wearing Queen Victoria’s Baroque Pearl Brooch in the mid-1990s and was worn for numerous official events, among them King Carl XVI Gustaf’s Silver Jubilee in 1998 and the Japanese State Visit to Sweden in 2000.

Princess Madeleine notably wore Queen Victoria’s Baroque Pearl Brooch on a velvet choker for a Ball at the Royal Palace of Amsterdam in 2002 as well as with the Modern Fringe Tiara for the Ball of the Order of Innocence the following year.

The Baroque Pearl Brooch has continued to have been worn by Queen Silvia over the years, with notably appearances at the Wedding of King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima of the Netherlands in 2002, the Swedish State Visit to The Netherlands in 2009, and the Wedding of Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume of Luxembourg in 2012 among others.

Crown Princess Victoria wore the Baroque Pearl Brooch with the Napoleonic Cut Steel Tiara for a Banquet in 2013 and most recently with the Baden Fringe Tiara for the Nobel Prize Ceremony last year. There is no doubt we will continue to see this heirloom for years to come!