Queen Emma's Diamond Parure

     

 
 
In 1879 Dutch Jeweller Van Kempen was commissioned by King Willem III to create a new parure for his new wife, Queen Emma, born princess of Waldeck and Pyrmont. Using Princess Wilhelmina's famous Rundell tiara and the House Diamonds of the Orange-Nassaus, Van Kempen created a circular tiara with a laurel wreath base topped with large round sunbursts and large upright pearls, a diamond necklace containing the famous 17th century Holland or Stuart diamond (39,75 carats) and a diamond devant de corsage.

Queen Emma wore the parure for the first time in public in 1882, at the wedding of her sister Princess Helena of Waldeck and Pyrmont to Prince Albert, the Duke of Albany. It is suggested that Queen Emma did not like the parure much as she was rarely seen wearing it in public. 

In 1897 Queen Dowager Emma sent the parure to Jeweller Schürmann in Frankfurt - with many other pieces of diamond jewellery- to create a new diamond parure for the investiture, as Queen, of her daughter Wilhelmina. 

The last photograph of (parts of) the parure dates from 1897/8 when a young Queen Wilhelmina poses with the necklace and the upper parts of the tiara set on a white gold wire frame.

The upper parts of the original tiara, the sunbursts and large pear shaped pearls, now set on a wire frame have been exhibited once in the 1990's but have not been seen since.

On a picture from the 1950's Queen Juliana's wearing what seems to be one of the side ornaments (Sunbursts) of her grandmother's tiara.

 

  
First design by Van Kempen The Devant de Corsage (final design)  
HM Queen Emma Close Up Tiara Close Up Necklace and Devant de C.
HM Queen Emma HM Queen Emma HM Queen Emma 
HM Queen Wilhelmina  HM Queen Wilhelmina  HM Queen Wilhelmina 
 
  HM Queen Juliana Close-Up  
 
 

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