Tiaras and Trinkets on Tuesday (Syldavian Royal Jewellery Collection)

This weekly post is normally my favourite as it is about the jewellery that Royals wear. I have always been obsessed with jewellery and one of my earliest memories is of sitting on my grandmother’s lap and being completely fascinated by her sparkling engagement ring. For some reason my interest grew over time and eventually my appetite for bedazzlement could only be satiated by the ultimate jewellery, namely tiaras and crowns.

To celebrate the restoration of the monarchy in Syldavia, I chose, for the first time on this blog, to discuss not one or two pieces of Royal jewels but rather an entire collection. Yes, today I will catalogue the entire jewellery collection of the Syldavian Royal Family inclusive of the Crown Jewels. This is no small task and will definitely not happen every week but will bedazzle you to the moon and back. I just thought it could be my private way of celebrating monarchy especially as we are still buzzing from the weekend’s event and are obviously in anticipation of the upcoming Investiture.

There are several categories of jewellery in this collection. First up we will discuss the privately owned jewellery of Queen Maxima. Then we will move on to the jewellery owned by the Von Bismarck family foundation. Then there are the pieces owned by the Count Von Bismarck, now King of Syldavia in his private capacity and finally the Crown Jewels of Syldavia which is the property of the nation of Syldavia but used by the monarch on High State occasions.

The Private Jewellery of Queen Maxima

Princess Maxima hails from the Royal Family of Hanoveria. As such their house tradition requires each reigning Grand Duke to add to the Royal Jewel Collection when a daughter comes of age. Then when the daughter marries out of the family she has the right to claim some jewels as a dowry. Princess Maxima chose the new Yellow Diamond Parure. The tiara with no provenance has a simple fringe design and is complemented by a simple necklace and earrings. The simplicity of design is in keeping with Maxima’s taste but belies the great value of the canary yellow stones. Her new husband, the Count von Bismarck added a larger necklace, different earrings and a brooch to the collection as a wedding present. She also owns an engagement ring set with an indigenous Syldavian emerald given to her by her husband to allude to the possibility of her becoming more than just the Queen of his Heart. Queen Maxima also owns a red garnet necklace with earring that she purchased for herself before her marriage.

Queen Maxima's Yellow Diamonds.

The then Countess von Bismarck wears her Yellow Diamonds at the Annual Knights Meeting in 2011. Notice the new Chain of Office that the Count von Bismarck wears in bold anticipation of becoming King.

 The Von Bismarck Foundation

The Von Bismarck Family Foundation is an independent trust that manages some property, works of art and of course jewellery. The trust was set up by Count Nikolas’ grandfather to preserve some of the family treasures for future generations. The jewellery have rules attached as to who may wear them but at least could never be sold. Also, anybody is free to add to the foundation’s collection. Upon anticipating the restoration in Syldavia the Count von Bismarck purchased a famous tiara that used to belong to a former Queen of Syldavia and entered it into the foundation with the stipulation that only the wife of the King of Syldavia may wear it. Other pieces in the collection are the Von Bismarck Sapphires which only the wife or mother of the head of the family may wear, the Seven Prong Tiara and the Ruskian Ruby Kokoshnik and Necklace.

The Fringe Tiara of Queen Ingrid of Syldavia.

The Von Bismarck Sapphires also of a variant fringe design.

The Seven Prong Tiara and some other jewels in the foundation.

The Ruskian Rubies. Queen Maxima chose to wear the rubies for the anniversary celebrations in the Principality of Swann two weeks ago.

A photo of the deceased mother of King Nikolas III, Countess Maria von Bismarck wearing the sapphires in 2009.

The King’s Private Jewellery Collection

King Nikolas owns some jewellery in his own capacity. As head of the Von Bismarck line he inherited in his private capacity the fabulous Von Bismarck Nuptial Diamond Parure. Obviously he can do with this as he pleases but chances are that his wife will be the only one to wear it.

The very large Nuptial Parure that Queen Maxima wore on her wedding day. (See yesterday's post that featured the wedding)

 The Crown Jewels of Syldavia

Originally the Crown Jewels of Syldavia included two King’s Crowns, one Consort Queen’s Crown, a Royal Scepter, a Chain of Office and a Medieval Queens Tiara kept separately from the rest in the Museum of National History. A second King’s Crown was made to celebrate the Anniversary of the Royal House of Vasa that ruled in an unbroken line for 250 years. The new Crown was presented to King Ottokar III at a special ceremony. Unfortunately this crown, along with the Consort Crown, the Chain and the sceptre were on display in the Empire of Scot-Britania along with several other nations’ treasures to celebrate the establishment of the Empire. They were destroyed or looted during the ensuing revolution. What remained along with two new items has now been officially rededicated as the Crown Jewels of Syldavia. They are; the original Crown of Ottokar I, the Medieval Consort’s Tiara of Queen Dagmar and a new Queen’s Coronet and Chain of Office that King Nikolas added at his own expense.

The new Consort's Coronet at left and the old Crown of King Ottokar I at right. The little crown was especially designed to match the King's Crown

The Medieval Tiara. Rumour has it that the Syldavian people are donating a modern necklace and earings to be added to this tiara and could be what Queen Maxima will wear to the Investiture.

The last King and Queen of Syldavia. Here we can see the destroyed crowns and sceptre and also the tiara which has recently returned to Syldavia via its new King. Queen Maxima wore the tiara to the presidential dinner last Saturday.

The Von Bismarcks collection isn’t the largest in Europa but the family is independently wealthy due to extensive business interests. We can thus expect new jewels as Prince Valdemar comes of age as he might purchase new jewels for his future wife. Princess Miranda might also buy her own or gain through marriage. Let’s see what the future holds. Enjoy looking out for these jewels in preceding and following posts. Jewellery is a great way of identifying characters in a crowd.