Spanish Royal Jewels: Suggested changes and additions


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muriel

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A place where we could discuss potential changes and additions that we would like to see made to the royal jewel box of Queen Letizia and the broader Spanish royal family
 
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A place where we could discuss potential changes and additions that we would like to see made to the royal jewel box of Queen Letizia and the broader Spanish royal family

It was very good to see Letizia wear a serious pair of sapphire and diamond earrings at the Guildhall dinner in London recently.

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2017...d_no_sign_of_fatigue_-a-145_1499973263265.jpg

Which got me thinking, that there is a probably a necklace to match that pair of earring lurking in her jewel as well. If that is indeed the case, which of the Spanish royal tiaras might she be able to alter to make into a married parure with sapphires and diamonds? To me, the obvious contenders are the Cartier diamond and Pearl tiara, or the Cartier Loop tiara. It would be great if the pearls in either of those tiaras, though ideally, the Cartier Loop Tiara, could be interchanged with sapphires.

http://orderofsplendor.blogspot.co.uk/2012/02/tiara-thursday-cartier-diamond-and.html
http://orderofsplendor.blogspot.co.uk/2014/06/tiara-thursday-queen-maria-christinas.html

Comments welcome.
 
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It was very good to see Letizia wear a serious pair of sapphire and diamond earrings at the Guildhall dinner in London recently.

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2017...d_no_sign_of_fatigue_-a-145_1499973263265.jpg

Which got me thinking, that there is a probably a necklace to match that pair of earring lurking in her jewel as well. If that is indeed the case, which of the Spanish royal tiaras might she be able to alter to make into a married parure with sapphires and diamonds? To me, the obvious contenders are the Cartier diamond and Pearl tiara, or the Cartier Loop tiara. It would be great if the pearls in either of those tiaras, though ideally, the Cartier Loop Tiara, could be interchanged with sapphires.

The Royal Order of Sartorial Splendor: Tiara Thursday: The Cartier Diamond and Pearl Tiara
The Royal Order of Sartorial Splendor: Tiara Thursday: Queen Maria Christina’s Cartier Loop Tiara

Comments welcome.

It should be easys to replace the pearls in the Cartier diamond and pearl tiara with other stones as this was occasionally done by Queen Ena with emeralds. . Unfortunately she had to sell the emeralds which she used for this during the years of her exile.
 
It should be easys to replace the pearls in the Cartier diamond and pearl tiara with other stones as this was occasionally done by Queen Ena with emeralds. . Unfortunately she had to sell the emeralds which she used for this during the years of her exile.

Thats correct. That said, sapphires that size will be quite expensive, but I am sure a one-off investment of the type can be made by the King and Queen at some stage.

The stones on the Cartier Loop tiara are much smaller, and I suspect cost substantially less to replace.
 
I would not do too much. The Spanish monarchy is not like the Scandinavian ones with so many gala events. The events for which grand jewels are needed are quite limited.

As Letizia is just a very petite lady, the major Spanish diadems overwhelm her and in combination with her frêle appearance make her looking like a beauty pageant Miss. So my advice would be: at least bring all jewels to the jeweller for a profound cleaning (= remove every stone out of the setting, give every part an ultrasone cleaning, repair or improve the montures, re-silver the settings and bring it back to a fantastic sparkling state), ready for the future, ready for Doña Leonor and Doña Sofía.

Letizia in the meantime: make use of the (cleaned) Floral Wreath Diadem or the (cleaned) Prussian Diadem. The other items are best left in the cassette. She simply misses the statuesque presence needed to wear the big and outspoken diadems. My personal opinion. And, oh yes: that Ansorena-shaming insult to craftmanship, the "modern" fleur-de-lys diadem, is best thrown in the shredder.
 
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I would not do too much. The Spanish monarchy is not like the Scandinavian ones with so many gala events. The events for which grand jewels are needed are quite limited.

As Letizia is just a very petite lady, the major Spanish diadems overwhelm her and in combination with her frêle appearance make her looking like a beauty pageant Miss. So my advice would be: at least bring all jewels to the jeweller for a profound cleaning (= remove every stone out of the setting, give every part an ultrasone cleaning, repair or improve the montures, re-silver the settings and bring it back to a fantastic sparkling state), ready for the future, ready for Doña Leonor and Doña Sofía.

Letizia in the meantime: make use of the (cleaned) Floral Wreath Diadem or the (cleaned) Prussian Diadem. The other items are best left in the cassette. She simply misses the statuesque presence needed to wear the big and outspoken diadems. My personal opinion. And, oh yes: that Ansorena-shaming insult to craftmanship, the "modern" fleur-de-lys diadem, is best thrown in the shredder.

Quite harsh and strong opinions there.

I actually think the loop tiara might work quite well for Letizia. She did far better woth the large FdL tiara than I had expected, so I am reserving judgement till I see her in other tiaras.

As regards the number of tiara events that Letizia gets to attend, I think there are a fair few. As she and Felipe get more and more self assured in their roles and as the economic and political climate improves in Spain, I think you will see her in more jewellery than we have in recent years. The state visit to the UK made that pretty clear to me.
 
I would not do too much. The Spanish monarchy is not like the Scandinavian ones with so many gala events. The events for which grand jewels are needed are quite limited.

According the some sites I looked up on the web, Queen Victoria Eugenie alone had as many as six additional tiaras that left the family or were lost during the exile years. So, I suppose grand jewels might have been worn more frequently in Spain in the past.

So far this year, if I recall it correctly, Queen Letizia has had four tiara appearances (three of those in outbound state visits and another one in an incoming state visit). If the Spanish royal couple had attended King Harald V's and Queen Sonja's birthday gala , that would have gone up to five, which is actually quite a lot by modern standards.
 
According the some sites I looked up on the web, Queen Victoria Eugenie alone had as many as six additional tiaras that left the family or were lost during the exile years. So, I suppose grand jewels might have been worn more frequently in Spain in the past.

So far this year, if I recall it correctly, Queen Letizia has had four tiara appearances (three of those in outbound state visits and another one in an incoming state visit). If the Spanish royal couple had attended King Harald V's and Queen Sonja's birthday gala , that would have gone up to five, which is actually quite a lot by modern standards.

Agreed. As Queen, Letizia does have a fair few events to attend where a tiara can be worn.

As regards tiaras that have left the royal family, I do nope Felipe is able to acquire the sapphire and diamond tiara that currently belongs to Infanta Pilar. If I am not mistaken, parts of this parure were stolen whilst the Infanta was in Monaco for the wedding of Albert and Charlene.
 
Infanta Pilar's Tiara would work rather well with Queen Letizia's new Sapphire Dem-Parure I think..
They have Sofia's Rubies [assuming she bequeaths them to 'the main line'], but they badly need resetting.
All that is needed is a set of good Emeralds, then [with their already plentiful Pearls] they have the four major Coloured Stones 'covered'...
 
Infanta Pilar's Tiara would work rather well with Queen Letizia's new Sapphire Dem-Parure I think..
They have Sofia's Rubies [assuming she bequeaths them to 'the main line'], but they badly need resetting.
All that is needed is a set of good Emeralds, then [with their already plentiful Pearls] they have the four major Coloured Stones 'covered'...

Actually, I think Letizia has some good ruby and diamond earrings of her own that she wore to W-A's 50th. Might there be a necklace lurking with those as well? If so, perhaps one of the Cartier diamond and pearl tiara's, if made interchangeable, could have rubies as well.

http://members2.boardhost.com/royal-jewels/msg/1493492579.html

As regards Sofia's rubies, I am happy for her to split the parure between her daughters!
 
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It was very good to see Letizia wear a serious pair of sapphire and diamond earrings at the Guildhall dinner in London recently.

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2017...d_no_sign_of_fatigue_-a-145_1499973263265.jpg

Which got me thinking, that there is a probably a necklace to match that pair of earring lurking in her jewel as well. If that is indeed the case, which of the Spanish royal tiaras might she be able to alter to make into a married parure with sapphires and diamonds? To me, the obvious contenders are the Cartier diamond and Pearl tiara, or the Cartier Loop tiara. It would be great if the pearls in either of those tiaras, though ideally, the Cartier Loop Tiara, could be interchanged with sapphires.

The Royal Order of Sartorial Splendor: Tiara Thursday: The Cartier Diamond and Pearl Tiara
The Royal Order of Sartorial Splendor: Tiara Thursday: Queen Maria Christina’s Cartier Loop Tiara

Comments welcome.

It would be great if F&L add a few coloured stones for Cartier Diamond Pearl Tiara. Maybe they could use the sapphire stones of Sofia's Earrings instead letizia's stones
https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LlzEFjYw...rGCSo7EUEdR9fjACKgB/s1600/2016-0727-sofia.png

Another option for coloured stones would be the turquise necklace, earrings sofia owns. she owns two different earrings and necklaces, so they could add turquise to the Cartier Tiara.
http://i63.tinypic.com/dy58j8.jpg
https://s7.postimg.org/7ap15t0yj/joyasav0.jpg

I know people hate Letizias own Tiara, but maybe it would be possible to change the pearls with another stones, like aquamarines. I ve read , first of all it was planned with aquamarines..
 
Usually royals receive gifts during a state visit, So i wounder Q.Elizabeth II gave her some jewels? Has Queen Elizabeth II given jewels to other royals in the past?
 
I believe the standard gift QEII gives during a state visit is a signed/framed photo of herself and Prince Phillip. In this day and age of frugality no one gives jewels anymore unless you are from an oil rich country.
 
I believe the standard gift QEII gives during a state visit is a signed/framed photo of herself and Prince Phillip. In this day and age of frugality no one gives jewels anymore unless you are from an oil rich country.

Thank you very much for your answer.. Well Letizia reveived a bracelet or two in 2015, and some other jewels in 2015... Felipe and Letizia should visit or reveive UAE...
 
A Visit to Saudi Arabia OR Qatar [both would be tricky atm !] is in order, along with some Emerald 'shaped' hints to the relevant Ambassador prior to arrival...
 
Usually royals receive gifts during a state visit, So i wounder Q.Elizabeth II gave her some jewels? Has Queen Elizabeth II given jewels to other royals in the past?

It seems Queen Elizabeth gives a picture. Once Queen Beatrix ordered her Royal Mews to look out for a top breed stud, knowing about Queen Elizabeth's top expertise in this field.

Queen Beatrix then ordered the horse to be transported to London, to undergo all formalities for entrance. During the State Visit she handed her gift, the beautiful stud, with ceremonial (see the Dutch riding-servant in gala uniform) to the British Queen.

Is then -in reciprocity- the British gift: a picture of the Queen? That is hard to imagine. But giving jewels for State Visits has not been done anymore for many decades, I think, between European royal families. So we may be sure Letizia has not received jewels from the British hosts.

Picture: Queen Beatrix hands over her gift to Queen Elizabeth.
 
How pleased you appear to be Duc_et_Pair, in painting HMQ as a 'cheapskate' !

It plays SO well to your [noted] prejudices..
 
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It would be great if F&L add a few coloured stones for Cartier Diamond Pearl Tiara. Maybe they could use the sapphire stones of Sofia's Earrings instead letizia's stones
https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LlzEFjYw...rGCSo7EUEdR9fjACKgB/s1600/2016-0727-sofia.png

Another option for coloured stones would be the turquise necklace, earrings sofia owns. she owns two different earrings and necklaces, so they could add turquise to the Cartier Tiara.
http://i63.tinypic.com/dy58j8.jpg
https://s7.postimg.org/7ap15t0yj/joyasav0.jpg

I know people hate Letizias own Tiara, but maybe it would be possible to change the pearls with another stones, like aquamarines. I ve read , first of all it was planned with aquamarines..
I was not suggesting that stones be taken from existing royal jewels to be substituted in the tiaras but new ones acquired. The necklaces and earrings should remain intact as they, along with the tiaras, can make excellent "married Parures " in sapphires, rubies or turquoise, as the case might be.
 
I was not suggesting that stones be taken from existing royal jewels to be substituted in the tiaras but new ones acquired. The necklaces and earrings should remain intact as they, along with the tiaras, can make excellent "married Parures " in sapphires, rubies or turquoise, as the case might be.
BUt there are some pieces which design is not the most elegant and are out of date like for example the bird ruby necklace of Queen Sofia (from which Queen Letizia has worn the earrings in Japan). Why not break up peaces lkike this and make a new ruby necklace or use it to improve the niarchios ruby by bandeau.
 
BUt there are some pieces which design is not the most elegant and are out of date like for example the bird ruby necklace of Queen Sofia (from which Queen Letizia has worn the earrings in Japan). Why not break up peaces lkike this and make a new ruby necklace or use it to improve the niarchios ruby by bandeau.

That is certainly a possibility. ?
 
I think there are many 'dated' jewels in the SRF and lots of them quite bulky what looks good on Sofia due to her face shape and hairstyle but not on Letizia who has a puristic style anyway. Those type of jewels may look good on Leonor though who has a similar face shape as her grandmother.

Not sure the SRF will invest much time or money in transforming jewels although it seems a good idea!
 
I think there are many 'dated' jewels in the SRF and lots of them quite bulky what looks good on Sofia due to her face shape and hairstyle but not on Letizia who has a puristic style anyway. Those type of jewels may look good on Leonor though who has a similar face shape as her grandmother.

Not sure the SRF will invest much time or money in transforming jewels although it seems a good idea!
I suspect time will tell. A lot will depend on what does eventually end up with Letizia, and what goes to Elena and Christina
 
How pleased you appear to be Duc_et_Pair, in painting HMQ as a 'cheapskate' !

It plays SO well to your [noted] prejudices..

In my post I noted that I can not imagine Queen Elizabeth II "just" giving a picture of herself. So it is not me painting Her Brittanic Majesty down as a re-incarnation of Ebenezer Scrooge. It is up to you and others to show that she is as generous as other heads of state and indeed answers gifts in reciprocity.
 
It should be easys to replace the pearls in the Cartier diamond and pearl tiara with other stones as this was occasionally done by Queen Ena with emeralds. . Unfortunately she had to sell the emeralds which she used for this during the years of her exile.

My understanding is that Ena herself had the pearls fixed in the tiara and they are not removable any more.

Instead of changing historic tiaras I've read suggestions online of making new ones with bracelets/necklaces from their stash of modern and not very pretty jewels ?:whistling:

They can not receive jewelry or expensive gifts any more from foreign RFs or officials, but I'm sure there are many pieces waiting for the spotlight in Zarzuela ;)
 
Instead of changing historic tiaras I've read suggestions online of making new ones with bracelets/necklaces from their stash of modern and not very pretty jewels ?:whistling:

They can not receive jewelry or expensive gifts any more from foreign RFs or officials, but I'm sure there are many pieces waiting for the spotlight in Zarzuela ;)

Is it known if all the modern Jewels which where most likely gifts from the arabis rulers etc. are personal Property of Queen Sofia/Queen Letizia or is there a solution like in the UK that they are State Property but in the usage of the one who was gifted them. If the later is the case it could be that they are not allowed to have mayor chagnes at them or break them up to make new jewels.

My understanding is that Ena herself had the pearls fixed in the tiara and they are not removable any more.

As far as i rember Queen Ena wore it in the emerald Version quiet late in her life. Wasn't it for the wedding celebrations of JC and Sofia?
I don't mean a permanent change but simple make it versatil so that the pearls can be replaced with other stones like for example in Queen Fabiola's spanish Wedding gift tiara.
 
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They can not receive jewelry or expensive gifts any more from foreign RFs or officials, but I'm sure there are many pieces waiting for the spotlight in Zarzuela ;)

What do you mean when you say that they "cannot receive jewelry gifts from foreign RFs or officials" ? Are you sayng that any gift they receive automatically becomes state property rather than private property, or do you mean that they are literally barred from even accepting any such gift in the first place ?
 
I don't mean a permanent change but simple make it versatil so that the pearls can be replaced with other stones like for example in Queen Fabiola's spanish Wedding gift tiara.

I agree, the idea would be to make the stones in the tiara interchangeable.
 
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