Ruby Peacock Tiara

Happy Tiara Tuesday!  Today we you bring you a delightful tiara from the Dutch Royals, the Ruby Peacock Tiara.
This stunning diamond and ruby tiara was originally made in 1897 by Johann Eduard Schürmann & Co.  It was commissioned by Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands, using rubies that once belonged to Queen Sophie, the first wife of Wilhelmina’s father Willem III (Wilhelmina’s mother was Queen Emma, Willem’s second wife).
The tiara features an Art Nouveau inspired peacock tail motif, and is part of a matching parure including a brooch and necklace.  Bracelets and earrings were made to go with the set later, and are a different style than the original parure.  Although Queen Juliana (Wilhelmina’s daughter) safeguarded most of the jewels by putting them in a family foundation (the Orange-Nassau collection), the tiara was instead given to Princess Irene, Queen Juliana’s second daughter and Wilhelmina’s granddaughter.
Princess Irene wore the tiara often during her marriage to Prince Carlos Hugo of Bourbon-Parma, but when they divorced in 1981, she stopped wearing it completely and it disappeared from the public eye.  The other parts of the parure remained in use but the tiara was missing for decades!  There was speculation it may have been auctioned off, but instead it made its reappearance on Princess Maxima in May 2009!  Since its reappearance it has shown up multiple times with Princess Maxima and Queen Beatrix, implying it has returned to the family jewel collection.

This stunning tiara is timeless, and with all the other fantastic rubies in the Orange-Nassau collection, hopefully we will see much more of it matched with other gorgeous jewels!