The Swedish Royal Family has a wide and historic jewellery collection, one that is frequently shared amongst the family. The Bernadotte Emerald Parure however, is one of the oldest sets in the collection and one of the most impressive.
This parure includes a coordinating necklace and two brooches.
Created for the first Bernadotte King of Sweden, King Carl XIV Johan, the necklace that anchors this parure was originally a belt of sixteen emerald and diamond medallions. The first record of it is in 1844 as a belt; however, by the 1880s Queen Sofia had had the belt altered into a necklace of fourteen medallions.Â
The larger brooch was originally an ornamental belt buckle for King Carl Johan, and the smaller brooch is a similar emerald and diamond medallion design.
The parure was not worn frequently until the 1950s when the current King of Sweden’s mother, Princess Sibylla, started wearing it.Â
Although the Swedish Royal Family no longer has an emerald tiara in their collection, Queen Silvia and Crown Princess Victoria often pair this belt turned necklace with one of the family’s diamond tiaras for state and family events. Queen Silvia had the necklace altered again to a shorter length in the 2000s.Â
Queen Silvia has worn the set many times, including for her official portraits for her 50th birthday and the 2018 Nobel Prize Ceremony.
Crown Princess Victoria has also reached for the impressive emeralds and wore them for the 2012 Nobel Prize Ceremony and the 2018 Italian State Banquet. Victoria tends to pair them with the Six Button Tiara, for a similar and sparkly look.
