Tiaras and Trinkets on Tuesday (The Private Jewellery Collection of Queen Gloria of Normandia)

Happy 2013 everybody! This is our first post for the new year and I thought we would start it with a bang and in true style focusing on my favourite topic, tiaras and jewellery. 

We have done a blog post feature on the Crown Jewels of Normandia in 2012 and now we will discuss all the jewellery that belongs to Queen Gloria in her private capcity. This could be seen as the Van der Bilt Family Inheritance as some of the jewellery was bought by Queen Gloria's father for her mother and as gifts to Gloria. The rest are recent private purchases. Let's take a look at this sumptuous collection in detail now. 

Queen Gloria's mother, Lady Karen Van Der Bil, is seen here wearing what we will call the Van Der Bilt Platinum Parure. This photo dates from 2008 and was taken at a Big Apple evening function of which Lady Karen attended more than could be remembered.

In this recent jewellers archive photo we see that the jewels still exist even though Queen Gloria has not worn the tiara as yet. She has been seen to wear the earrings though. The necklace however has been altered, presumably to be of a more "queenly"configuration rather than the more modest previous design. 

The famous Lady Karen Amethyst Parure has been discussed in a previous post focusing specifically on the Amethyst as a gemstone. Please find that post under "Amethysts" in our Label Column. 

This jewellers archive photo is posted here for the first time detailing this historic and extravagant set of valuable pink diamonds and amethysts dating from the early 1980's. 

The design of the Amethyst Parure is very simple, almost modest but that belies the great value of the pink diamonds included in the design. This very chic design was typical of the Van Der Bilt's "understated" display of wealth. This has however changed since Gloria ascended the throne of Normandia where the queenly office requires a distinct show of pomp and grandeur. 

Lady Karen wearing pink, is seen here in 2009 wearing the Franconian Diadem. This Tiara used to be the most "Royal" and most impressive in the Van Der Bilt Collection. The Tiara is clearly more than 200 years old and claims provenance from the old Franconian Royal Court. It did not come to the family through Lady Karen's Royal heritage but was rather bought for her by her husband at auction as a gift. 

The Franconian Diadem is set with diamonds and pearls and is said to have belonged to the last Queen of Franconia who lost it along with her head when that monarchy fell during the famous Franconian Revolution more than 200 years ago.

Queen Gloria often wears the Diadem and pairs it here with a more modern choker.

When Gloria became Queen of Normandia she needed more jewellery for all the official functions she was now required to attend. Even though she already owned a very famous and valuable jewellery collection, she did decide to add some new pieces. All the new pieces she acquired at her own expense and as such they remain her personal property. All the official jewels from the Crown Collection of Normandia (discussed in a previous post) however is the property of the state but at her disposal to wear to official events.

 In this photo, Queen Gloria wears the new tiara that was made for her to wear to the Christmas Ball of 2010. it has now unofficially been dubbed the "Christmas Tiara" due to this fact and that its design alludes loosely to snowflakes. She paired the new tiara, when she wore it to the 2011 Knights of the Realm Meeting, with the most valuable single stone in the Van Der Bilt Collection. Seen in Queen Gloria's necklace we can see that stone, the Van Der Bilt Cognac Diamond.

The Christmas Tiara seems to be Queen Gloria's favourite as she is seen more often wearing it rather than any other at her disposal.

The Van Der Bilt Diamond Necklace, containing the 200ct Van Der Bilt Cognac Diamond. This stone has been in the Van Der Bilt Family for almost a hundred years since Queen Gloria's grand father bought it in the late 1920's and gave it as a gift to his wife. Gloria inherited the stone upon her father's death while she was still very young.

Queen Gloria was required to wear official jewels from the Normandian Crown Collection for her Investiture Ceremony as Queen. This ancient set of aquamarines and diamonds did not however have matching earrings. Queen Gloria immediately had aquamarine earnings made up to match the official set but ordered an entire parure along with it. In this photo we can see the complete new set as it was worn to the Duke of Swann's Anniversary Festivities early in 2012. The tiara is very modest in typical Van Der Bilt style and was made for that purpose as the official jewellery is very large and cumbersome.

The new Van Der Bilt Aquamarine Parure consists of a tiara, necklace, earrings, bracelet and a brooch.

Queen Gloria also ordered a new ruby necklace and earrings somewhere in 2011. She was seen to wear it for the first time at the Christmas Ball in 2011. 

Here is the jewellers catalogue photo for the ruby set. We will informally name this the Queen Gloria Ruby Demi Parure. 

Another new set made its appearance in 2012. This set is set with emeralds and diamonds and made its debut at the State Visit of Lady Arcwhite to the Kingdom of Normandia.

The Queen Gloria Emerald Demi Parure also includes a brooch which as yet has not been worn in public.

A very personal piece of jewellery that has come to the Queen is a bracelet from her husband. The former Count Szanguscko had to relinquish his title and family jewels to his younger brother when he married Queen Gloria and became the Prince of Northwold. He did however give her a bracelet that belonged to his mother. This single piece of Szanguscko historic jewellery now forms part of Queen Gloria'sd private collection.

Queen Gloria often wears the Szanguscko Bracelet as it has extreme sentimental value and its design lends itself to be paired with most other jewels.

Some of the famous Van Der Bilt Treasures are not currently in the hands of Queen Gloria.

A Tiara that has been lost to history is the Kent Diamond Tiara. Presumed to be another casualty of the 1996 Revolution, this tiara should otherwise have been part of Queen Gloria's inheritance as it belonged to Queen Gloria's maternal grandmother the Duchess of Kent. The tiara was last seen at the wedding of Queen Crystobel I of Scotney and Crown Prince Christian of Britania in 1986.

This very old archive photo shows the tiara in close detail. Its current whereabouts are unknown. It is rumoured that Queen Gloria has an antique broker scouring the market for its location and possible purchase.

Before Gloria even knew that she would be a queen she was still the head of a vast family fortune. Sometimes even the very wealthy are in need of ready cash and in 2009 this calamity hit Gloria Van Der Bilt.  She needed some cash for an immediate business venture and as such decided to sell some jewellery to raise the funds. She opted for the so called Van Der Bilt Diamond Collar. The extremely valuable set was sold with its matching earrings in a private sale raising the much needed cash flow.

This photo taken in 2008 is the last documentation of Gloria wearing the collar and earrings.

As the sale of the necklace was private, it wasn't even known by the public that it was sold. It was later however revealed along with its new owner when the Hispanian, Duchess of Aragon wore her new set to a movie premiere in 2009.

The Collar remains in the wealthy Duchess' collection to this day and was worn to the Christmas Ball in 2013 as seen in this photo.

The Van Der Bilt Collection counts as one of the largest and most valuable, intrinsically and historically, in the world. It is a pleasure to us the fans, that this collection is still used and not gathering dust in a museum. We look forward to seeing Queen Gloria wearing her sparklers on the red carpet in future, whether they are hers or belonging to the Crown Of Normandia.