Royal jewelry
Royalty often used diamonds to express their wealth. It was a symbol of refinement and class. It is no secret Empress Sisi (1837 – 1898) too adored diamonds and diamond jewelry. Diamond jewelry from Royal families around the 19
th century often contains tiaras, necklaces and many custom made orders. Another item we see a lot are sets of diamond stars. These were worn on their own as brooches or hair ornaments. Sometimes women attached them to their tiaras or necklaces.
Sisi’s diamond stars
The diamond stars became popular thanks to Empress Sisi. Her stars came from the imperial court jeweler Köchert. Sisi ordered at least 27 diamond stars from her jeweler. One of the things that was remarkable around that time was that they were not extremely lavish. Usually, crown jewels were enormous, and compared to them, the stars almost looked insignificant. However, Sisi was a woman who knew what she wanted. So when she posed for her painting from Franz Xaver Winterhalter in 1865, she did so with the diamond stars in her famously lush hair. The painting was reproduced very often. A while later, she attended various public events, such as her brother’s wedding, wearing the glittering ornaments. With the painting’s popularity and her public appearances, Sisi started a real fashion trend. Suddenly, all European royals started a hunt for diamond star ornaments.
Painting of Sisi with stars in her hair
Other Royal diamond stars
Thanks to trendsetter Sisi, many royals were spotted wearing diamond stars in the 19
th century. A famous example is Alexandra of Denmark. She was the Princess of Wales. She often wore diamond stars on the bodices of her gown. There were also stars on the diamond tiara she received as a wedding present from her husband. Even though Sisi may have started the trend, Alexandra continued it.
Queen Alexandra (left) wore diamond stars on the bodices of her gown. Image source: wikipedia
Maria Pia of Portugal (right) had a special tiara with diamond stars. Image source: gogmsite
Another impressive example of a diamond star jewel is the Diadem of Stars. This is part of the collection of crown jewels from the former Royal family of Portugal. It was constructed for Queen Maria Pia of Portugal in 1863 after the popularity of Sisi’s stars. It also had a coordinating necklace.
Royal Dutch diamond stars
Another great example is one very close to us. The diamond jewelry collection of the Dutch Royal House contains a lot of diamond stars as well. The stars were first owned by Queen Emma. She received them in 1879 as wedding gifts for her wedding with
King Willem III, who was a close friend of Martin Coster, the then-owner of Coster Diamonds. Emma is also the mother of Queen Wilhelmina (1880 – 1962), who visited Coster in 1897 with
King Rama V of Siam.
Queen Máxima wearing the tiara with diamond stars. Image source: Pinterest
The current Royal Dutch ladies still wear the diamond stars on a regular basis in various ways. However, the most famous occasion was in 2002 at the wedding of (the current) King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima. The queen used five ten-pointed diamond stars atop the base of the “Pearl Button Tiara” as her wedding diadem.
The creation of the Empress Collection
As the Dutch Royal diamond house, we wanted to create a tribute collection. A tribute to our history of famous visitors, history, and diamonds. That’s how we designed ‘The Empress Collection, as a tribute to Sisi’.
About the Empress Collection
The collection features modern-day jewels with a nod to the 19th-century fashion and her icons. Certain icons are star-shaped, just like the royals used to wear. Other items remind us of the Victorian Age (1837 – 1901) in which these diamond star trends occurred. After all, in this time, we also polished on of our masterpieces,
the Koh-I-Noor, for Queen Victoria of England. The vintage-inspired diamond jewels carry a special sentiment of Royalty and royal history. Discover
The Empress Collection now.
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