Tiaras and Trinkets on Tuesday (The Greatest Emerald Jewellery Sets)

Seeing as chances are all but zero that we will ever see them at one event, let us group together all the emerald sets in order to compare them and enjoy them in a single post. In our last installment we did sapphires and following this post we will also do the greatest ruby sets in the world. We begin today with the grandest set of Emeralds in the world. The complete set actually consists of two separate parures, the Greater and Lesser sets. Here follows their story and the complete list of other amazing emerald sets. 

Her Imperial Highness the Crown Princess Imperial of the United Empire of Scot-Britania wears the spectacular Greater D'Pont du Lac Emeralds. 

Originally made in the late 19^th century for the Franconian Princess Helene, Duchesse du Saint Denis, the parure passed upon her unexpected death to her brother who was the pretender to the Franconian throne. It came down the Francian Royal line until it reached the coffers of Her Highness Princess Anne-Marie D’Pont du Lac.

 In 1993 Princess Anne-Marie decided to sell two sets of the D’Pont du Lac treasures to raise funds for her sickly brother’s medical requirements and to curtail some back taxes on his waning estate. This she did without consulting her son, the 13th Baron, as she did not want to burden him with his uncle’s problems.

The auction of the famous emeralds along with another sapphire parure took place in the city of Londinium. At the last minute the Baron d’Rothchild managed to pull the famous sapphires from the sale but the emeralds came up for bidding. He tried desperately to buy them back but was outbid at the very end by the new Empress Crystobel I of the United Empire of Scot Britania herself. The Empress was considered the wealthiest women in the world and along with her mother, the deceased Queen of Scotney, were well known to be very dedicated collectors of jewellery and art. Nothing would block her if she put her mind on buying anything as she considered herself a custodian for posterity. The set ended up with the Empress's son, the Crown Prince Imperial. 

The original parure’s necklace and tiara were reset and slightly modernised but  retain the original “design” however without the upstanding drop pearls and the smaller emeralds. It is referred to as the "Greater D'Pont Du Lac Emeralds". Today it is worn by Princess Odeliah, the Crown Princess Imperial. 

The late Empress Crystobel is seen here wearing the Lesser D'Pont du Lac Emeralds. 

A slightly less imposing emerald parure called the "Lesser D'Pont Du Lac Emeralds" was created from scratch using the remaining smaller emeralds from the original D'Pont du Lac Parure. It was made for Empress Crystobel as a gift of thanks to her from her son. 

The auction following the passing of Empress Crystobel in 2013 saw four sets of jewels leave the collection to raise liquid cash against the estate taxes of the Empress. One of them was the Lesser D'Pont Du Lac Emerald Parure. Especially for our blog the Baron gave us special permission to reveal that he was the anonymous buyer of the Lesser D'Pont Du Lac Emeralds from the Empress Crystobel's collection. This "tour-de-force" purchase was karma at its best as the patient Baron has waited to redeem his family's former treasures from the willful sales of his mother.

H.I.H. Princess Augusta also sports an Emerald parure of her own. 

Princess Augusta officially attends many events requiring her to wear a tiara. As such she has served her need for some variety by acquiring several coloured stone jewellery sets like these emeralds.  After the revolution, those nobles who weren't killed were often completely dispossessed. Some had to sell their jewels to survive and Princess Augusta helped many of them through her international jewellery business to gain good prices. This emerald set used to belong to a Scot-Britanian Baronial Family and ended up being kept by the Princess as a personal acquisition. The set is dated to the late 1800's and was made for the 10th Baroness Bunting. The last Baron Bunting was killed during the revolution but his wife and daughter escaped to Americania where they sold the parure to Princess Augusta.

The sister of the late Empress Crystobel, Princess Beatrice of Hanoveria owns a spectacularly large Emerald Tiara. 

The Hanoverian Emerald Tiara was made especially for Princess Beatrice as a wedding present from her husband who is said to love the colour and enjoyed the prospect of seeing his wife wearing it.

H.R.H. Infanta Isabella of Hispania has been the most frequent wearer of the Hispanian Crown Emeralds. 

The Hispanian Emeralds belong to the Crown of Hispania and as such cannot be sold but is kept as a national treasure and used by the Royal family. Old Crown emeralds were re-cut into a more modern square cut in the early 1900's and then set into this parure as part of the Hispanian Crown Jewels. The rules for this tiara is that only the wife or daughters of a Hispanian Monarch may wear them. As such it is often worn by Infanta Isabella or her mother the Dowager Princess Cataljone. We have yet to see Queen Maria or her daughter wear them.

Her Majesty Queen Maxima of Syldavia.

The set is not modern and we speculate its age by virtue of its design to be at least late 19th Century. The rather large pear cut emeralds are set in a tiara and earrings that match in an Imperial Ruskian style. The office of King Nikolas III has confirmed that the set was given to Queen Maxima by her family as a personal gift celebrating the Syldavian Restoration. The King's office added that the set seen at the Knights Meeting was completed as an additional purchase by the King, of a necklace. Thus for future reference we have decided to name this the Hanoverian Gift Parure.

 It is clear from the design of the necklace that it is not part of the original set. The styles are at least of a similar era and as such do match when worn together. The origin of the set remains unknown. Considering Queen Maxima's Family connections through her grandmother's Ruskian origins one could speculate that the tiara's Ruskian style might belie it coming from a distant cousin through purchase or inheritance. The gift however remains poignant in that the green emeralds compliment the national colours of  Syldavia. The story of this tiara and its sudden appearance on the public stage shows that one never knows what lays hidden in the Royal vaults. For generations one can attempt to catalogue a collection, thinking you know its entirety and then a sudden surprise makes you wonder in amazement.

The Arch Duchess of Fulco D'Este wears her brother, the Duke of Swann's Emeralds.

The Swann Collection included a vast set of emeralds. The demi-parure of earrings and necklace. made from indigenous Syldavian emeralds was already part of the Swann Collection when Princess Elizabeth married the current Duke's father. They were originally a gift of friendship from the then King of Syldavia. For her first wedding anniversary, Princess Elizabeth's parents gave her a matching tiara and now the set is known as the Scot-Syldavian Emerald Parure. This spectacular set however was stolen in 2013 by Syldavian terrorists. Only a fraction of the set was recovered in broken pieces and what we see here is what remains today. 

The Shahbanou of Perlistan wears the Perlistani Crown Parure. 

The Imperial Perlistani Parure was made especially for the last Shahbanou to wear to her husband's coronation. It is set with high quality emeralds and yellow diamonds. They were recently lent to the pretender to the Imperial Throne of Perlistan for a photo shoot commemorating the exile of the Imperial Family being lifted and to boost awareness of the national history of Perlistan. 

Her Serene Highness the Princess of Wallachia. 

The Syldavian Emerald and Platinum Parure from the Wallachian Royal Collection was a gift from the Kingdom of Syldavia to the current Princess's grandmother Princess Elizabeta upon her marriage. It is not often worn by Princess Xenia,. but when we do see it, the effect is very dramatic. 

The Duchess of Lancaster. 

The current Duchess of Lancaster was orphaned during the 96 Revolution. It was by pure chance that her heritage was returned to her as she did not know anything of her origins. Upon receiving the title she also came into some historic jewels amongst which was this set of Art Deco Emeralds. The set dates from the 1920's and as such was made for the then holder of the title. The set also includes a bracelet not pictured above but is shown in the portrait of the Duchess.