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May Jewels: the best emeralds from the Netherlands

maxima

May is the month of emeralds. The green stone is among the most striking found in any jewellery collection and features in some of the best known royal Europe. To mark its role as May’s birthstone, we’re celebrating all things emerald throughout the month on Royal Central. Today we’re taking a look at the Emerald Parure Tiara, owned by the Dutch Royal Family.

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Queen Emma ordered this tiara from the jewellers Schürmann in 1899 – she wanted a gift for her daughter, Queen Wilhelmina. The tiara was made using emeralds that were already in Emma’s possession. The stones are thought to have belonged originally to Wilhelmina of Prussia.

The tiara has changed from its original form when it featured six emeralds on a swirling-diamond scroll base. In the 1950s, the tiara was modified to create earrings from two of the emeralds and in its current form the tiara features four emeralds and diamond finials.

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The Dutch Emerald Parure Tiara can also be worn as a necklace, and includes the afore-mentioned earrings and a brooch to complete the set.

This tiara has the benefit of being totally interchangeable as well: the emeralds can be swapped for pearls and it was worn this way when Princess Irene’s future granddaughter-in-law, Annemarie, married the Duke of Parma in 2010. The tiara can also be used in an all-diamond setting as seen on Princess Margriet in 2006.

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It’s a tiara that seems to be a family favourite as Queen Juliana wore it frequently during her reign and Princess Beatrix, Princess Margriet, Princess Irene, and Princess Laurentien have all worn it as well. Queen Máxima frequently wears this tiara with its emerald setting.

In 2019, Queen Máxima wore this tiara at the Irish State Banquet at Áras an Uachtaráin, as well as the necklace and earrings.

About author

Jess Ilse is the Assistant Editor at Royal Central. She specialises in the British, Danish, Norwegian and Swedish Royal Families and has been following royalty since Queen Elizabeth II’s Golden Jubilee. Jess has provided commentary for media outlets in Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Jess works in communications and her debut novel THE MAJESTIC SISTERS will publish in Fall 2024.