Queen Emma of the Netherlands' Sapphire Parure Tiara

Creation:  This tiara was ordered in 1881 from Vita Israel.  It was possibly based on an Oscar Massin design from 1867.  The diamonds are set en tremblant and the central sapphire can be removed to wear as a brooch.  In 1928, the frame was altered and some of the diamonds were removed by Van Kempen en Vos.  In 2013, Steltman Jewellers added a new frame and the central element was lowered though this option is reversible.

Materials:  Ceylon sapphires and diamonds set in gold and silver

1867 All Diamond Design by Massin

1881 Sapphire & Diamond Design

Provenance:

1. Queen Emma of the Netherlands; from her husband King Willem III of the Netherlands in 1881
2. Queen Juliana of the Netherlands; inherited from her grandmother in 1934
3. Orange-Nassau Family Foundation; set up by Queen Juliana in the 1960s

Queen Emma

Queen Beatrix

Queen Juliana

Other Wearers:

• Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands 
• Queen Maxima of the Netherlands
  

Queen Maxima

Queen Maxima

Questions:

• Did Maison Van Der Stichel create this tiara? 
• Was the central sapphire once a brooch owned by Queen Anna of The Netherlands? 

Links:

• Dutch Royal Jewels - Sapphire Parure
• The Royal Order of Sartorial Splendor - Mellerio Sapphire Tiara 
• Royal Magazin - Sapphire Parure 
• Erik Schoonhoven - Dutch Sapphire Tiara Not Mellerio Nor Massin 
• Erik Schoonhoven - Queen Maxima's Sapphire Tiara Is Dutch