The Württemberg Ornate Pearl Tiara

Happy Tiara Tuesday!  This week’s tiara is a stunning ornate pearl tiara from the Netherlands, whose name and provenance has been of much debate.

It is called the Württemberg Tiara by many, and the story of its origin is that it was a product of German jewelers and wedding gift for Princess Sophie of Württemberg when she married the future King Willem III of the Netherlands in 1839.  However, in the archives of Dutch Court jeweler Royal Begeer or Schürmann of Germany, this tiara is indicated as being made in 1897 for Queen Wilhelmina and was Dutch-made.  There is other speculation that perhaps the tiara from 1839 was altered in 1897, and that both tiaras are in fact, the same tiara (just before and after alteration).  Regardless of its true origin, the tiara is still a stunning piece of workmanship, using diamonds and some 35 natural round pearls and 11 drop pearls from the Orange-Nassau collection.

As one of the fanciest tiaras in the Dutch collection, it has only been worn by reigning queens, passed down from Queen Wilhelmina to Queen Juliana, who passed it on to Queen Beatrix.  Because of its 11 detachable drop pearls, it is very flexible in design!  Queen Beatrix has only worn the tiara in its full form on two occasions: her wedding day and for a state visit to the United Kingdom in 1982.  It can be a bit tall and spindly in its full form, but it was perfectly paired with the veil on her wedding day!

Queen Beatrix has continued to wear the tiara fairly frequently, but usually without those extra pearls.  She wore the tiara with five of the drop pearls on top for her last tiara appearance as queen at the pre-inauguration gala this past April!  Now she has been succeeded by King Willem-Alexander and his wife Queen Maxima, an Argentinian-born investment banker, so we just have to wait and see when Queen Maxima decides to bring it out next!