While I was hanging in my hammock in the garden yesterday, I unexpectedly received a tiara photo of Máxima and Amalia. Get out of holiday mode, because I have to show you this.
The two attended the wedding of Prince Ferdinand zu Schwarzenberg and Marie Friling in Attersee, Austria. Queen Máxima wore a richly embroidered dress by Jan Taminiau and the diamond bandeau. Princess Amalia also wears a dress from Taminiau. You may recognize him from the wedding in Jordan. On her head: the peacock tail diadem.
For those who don’t recognize Máxima’s dress: in 2017 she wore it during the state visit of President Macri of Argentina.
As mentioned, Amalia previously wore her dress in Jordan.
Diadem Maxima
Edwin Fellner, our jewelry expert, explains Máxima’s diadem: “This bandeau (headband) has quite a history. The enormous diamonds that form this bandeau were originally part of a chain (riviére). The diamonds are often misidentified as rose-cut stones, but that is apparently not the case. In 1879, the riviére (and a large devant de corsage) was given by the Dutch people to Princess Emma of Waldeck and Pyrmont on the occasion of her wedding to King William III of the Netherlands. Made in Amsterdam by Alfred Josephus Jitta, the official court jeweler of Queen Sophie. Emma’s daughter, Queen Wilhelmina, had her mother’s diamond necklace, originally set with thirty-four stones, set in this stunning bandeau diadem in 1937.
This simple-looking diadem contains twenty-seven enormous diamonds, each (!) weighing almost or more than 20 carats. The whereabouts of the seven remaining diamonds of the necklace are unknown. Wilhelmina wore the diadem only once in public for an official state portrait and was inherited by her daughter, Queen Juliana, after her death. Juliana loved diamonds and jewelry and this bandeau was one of her favorites. The enormous diamonds cascading over the bandeau weigh over a hundred carats in total (!). And it was Juliana who started a family trust, which ensured that the historical pieces left to the collection would not leave the family. The bandeau is now part of the family collection and is regularly worn by both Princess Beatrix (whose hairstyle hides the piece a bit) and Queen Maxima.
Diadem Amalia
Amalia’s diadem comes from the so-called peacock tail parure, which in addition to a diadem also includes a necklace and devant de corsage (large brooch). The parure was made in 1897 for Wilhelmina, who would be inaugurated the following year. Rubies from Queen Sophie’s estate were used for the set. The Frankfurt jeweler E. Schürmann received the order.
