Rediscovered & Rare; Royal Sapphires, Old Diamonds and Jewels that Represented Nations.

As I am reluctantly saying goodbye to the warm, sunny days, one thing that still makes me happy is a huge bunch of diamonds we saw during these three months of the summer season. Especially an extraordinary succession of tiara moments. There were rediscoveries, first appearances, family heirlooms, and jewels that had been waiting years for their next So here is our Royal Summer Recap of 2026, beginning with an unexpected Royal Bride and ending with one of the most charming tiara appearances of the season. The Summer Jewelry Parade began on June 6th with the wedding of Peter Phillips, son of Princess Anne, to Harriet Sperling at All Saints Church in Kemble, Gloucestershire. The bride surprised Royal Jewelry Watchers by wearing a tiara, particularly because this was the second marriage for both the bride and groom. Harriet chose not one of Princess Anne's known tiaras, but a diamond and pearl tiara from the jeweler that also created her engagement ring. The jewel was loaned by Pragnell and was accompanied by coordinating earrings. Its design combines diamonds and pearls with a delicate vintage appearance, perfectly suited to Harriet's Amelia Wickstead wedding gown and long veil. That choice was particularly interesting because speculation before the wedding had centered on whether Harriet might borrow one of Princess Anne's own tiaras. And that made it a fitting beginning to a summer in which unexpected jewelry choices repeatedly became the story. Only three days later, the focus moved to Amsterdam, where King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima hosted German Federal President Frank Walter Steinmeier and his wife, Elke Budenbender, during their state visit to the Netherlands. For the state banquet, Queen Maxima selected one of the most impressive sapphire ensembles in the Dutch Royal Collection, the historic Dutch Sapphire Perure Tiara, accompanied by coordinating sapphire and diamond jewels. The tiara was made in the 1880s for Queen Emma, wife of King Willem III, and is famous for its tall architectural silhouette of diamonds and sapphires. Maxima paired it with figure-eight earrings made using stones from another sapphire tiara associated with Queen Wilhelmina, as well as matching sapphire and diamond bracelets from Emma's Perure. Princess Katharina Amalia, meanwhile, wore the Dutch Star Tiara, creating a striking mother-and-daughter display of historic Dutch royal diamonds. Between, it was the same tiara she wore for the first time during the gala in Norway, so it was double meaningful. But there was also a surprise from Queen Maxima's friend, Elvira Oetker, who unexpectedly wore the historic convertible tiara, which was thought lost and even dismantled. But it wasn't. The sapphire and diamond floral tiara dates back to around 1850, made for Princess Elizabeth of Saxony's marriage to the Duke of Genoa, and later given as a wedding gift to her daughter, Queen Margarita of Italy. And that's an amazing rediscovery. Just a week later came one of the summer's most important international jewelry appearances, and a first royal debut. Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako of Japan made a state visit to the Netherlands from June 17 to 19 at the invitation of King Willem-Alexander. The visit marked more than four centuries of connections between Japan and the Netherlands, with bilateral relations dating back 426 years. At the state banquet in Amsterdam, Empress Masako for the first time ever wore Princess Chichibu's diamond honeysuckle tiara, an important piece of the Japanese imperial collection. She paired it with the imperial diamond Riviere and the Order of the Netherlands Lion. The tiara was created around 1928 for Princess Chichibu, and features delicate diamond honeysuckle motifs. Queen Maxima chose the Stuart diamond tiara, and Princess Amalia made a memorable appearance in the Malario ruby tiara. But the second star of this state banquet was Princess Ariane, who was entrusted with Queen Emma's diamond tiara. Princess Ariane's appearance was particularly notable, because it represented an important royal jewelry milestone for the young princess. The evening consequently became one of the richest tiara scenes of the entire summer, with Dutch and Japanese royal jewelry traditions appearing together in Amsterdam. The Japanese imperial couple then continued their European journey with a state visit to Belgium, culminating in another spectacular state banquet at the Castle of Laken on June 23. This time Empress Masako again wore Princess Chichibu's diamond honeysuckle tiara, but with an especially interesting addition, the mirrored diamond honeysuckle necklace and earrings. The appearance was significant, because the necklace is rarely seen, and its presence completed the ensemble in a way that had not been seen at the Dutch banquet. Queen Matilda wore the historic Nine Provinces tiara, a jewel originally associated with Queen Astrid and created for her in the 1920s. And then came another important debut. For the first time, Princess Elizabeth Duchess of Brabant wore her mother's personal tiara, Brabant laurel wreath tiara with diamond fringe earrings. But it was her younger sister who made her first royal debut, Princess Eleanor, who had recently turned 18 and wore a diamond tiara presented by her parents. The Belgian jewel was made by Brussels jeweler Koesmans and had originally been sold at auction in 2019 for €26,000 before being acquired for the young princess. So within just a few days, the Japanese imperial family had brought the same historic tiara tradition to two European royal courts, while Belgium introduced a new generation of royal tiara wearers. And then came one of the most touching jewelry moments of the summer because the tiara had a very personal family history. Just two weeks after Peter Phillips's wedding, another Windsor family bride brought an important heirloom out of the family vaults. Lady Marina Windsor, granddaughter of the Duke of Kent, married Nico Macaulay at All Saints Church in Huffingham. For her wedding, Marina wore the Kent pearl and diamond fringe tiara, a particularly sentimental jewel because it had been worn by several generations of Kent women. The tiara has a complicated history. Its diamond bandeau component was originally Queen Mary's diamond crochet bandeau, while the pearl and diamond fringe element is associated with Princess Louise. The two elements were combined in the 1970s to create the taller tiara worn by Marina's grandmother, Catherine, Duchess of Kent. And there was one more remarkable detail. Before Marina's wedding, the tiara had not been publicly worn for almost three decades. Its return, therefore, wasn't simply another royal wedding appearance. It was the revival of a deeply personal four-generation Kent family heirloom. The next major jewelry chapter moved south to Paris. From June 28 to July 2, King Maha Vajiralongkorn and Queen Suthada of Thailand made a state visit to France, marking the 171st anniversary of formal diplomatic relations between Thailand and France. It was the first state visit to France by a Thai monarch in 66 years. At the state dinner at the Elysee Palace, Queen Suthada wore an exceptionally important diamond necklace, widely identified as the historic Thai Riviere necklace. The necklace is traditionally associated with Queen Sauvaba Phongsri, wife of King Chulalongkorn and mother of two future kings. Following her death in 1919, the necklace disappeared from public view for decades. It was later revived by Queen Sirikit, who wore it during the historic European tour of 1960. Queen Suthada's appearance therefore connected three generations of Thai queens through one extraordinary line of diamonds. The Paris visit also had a strong jewelry and fashion connection because the royal couple visited La Mode en Majesté, royal Thai dress from tradition to modernity, an exhibition celebrating Thai royal dress and craftsmanship. For royal jewelry enthusiasts, it was one of the summer's most historically meaningful appearances, an old Thai royal jewel returning to one of the world's great royal capitals. On July 25, Vienna provided another extraordinary tiara moment when Archduchess Isabel of Austria married Spanish aristocrat Carlos de Palacio y Gaitán de Ayala at the Jesuit Church. For her wedding, Isabel wore the historic Bourbon II Sicilies diamond button tiara, borrowed from her maternal family. The jewel consists of five round diamond buttons with foliage decoration mounted on a relatively simple platinum frame. The buttons themselves are considerably older than the tiara's present arrangement and are linked to the Habsburg family. In 1936 the buttons were mounted as a tiara and presented as a wedding gift to Princess Alicia of Bourbon-Parma when she married Infante Alfonso, Duke of Calabria. The jewel subsequently became an important bridal heirloom for descendants of the family. Isabel's appearance was particularly meaningful because she is the granddaughter of Princess Maria Paloma of Bourbon II Sicilies, who herself wore the tiara when she married Archduke Simeon in 1996. And finally, the summer's latest royal tiara moment came on August 24 in Denmark. Queen Mary and King Frederick attended the wedding of Count Gregor's Alefeldt Larvig-Biele, a godson of King Frederick, and Cecilia Juhl at Kvarndrup Church on Funen. The reception followed at Eggeskov Castle, the historic ancestral home of the Alefeldt Larvig-Biele family. Queen Mary chose one of her most recognizable personal jewels, her antique diamond necklace tiara. Unlike many royal tiaras, this jewel began life not as a tiara but as a necklace dating from around 1900. Mary purchased it in 2012 and subsequently had it transformed into a tiara, making it one of her most frequently worn personal pieces. The bride, meanwhile, wore the Alefeldt Larvig-Biele tiara, a 19th-century family heirloom belonging to her husband's family. The result was a wonderful contrast. Queen Mary in a jewel she personally selected and transformed, beside a bride wearing a tiara she got access to this same day. But besides royal glitter at the castle, this summer brought us two major jewelry exhibitions. One is an ongoing Melbourne Winter Masterpieces by Cartier hosted at the National Gallery of Victoria. It is the largest Cartier exhibition ever staged in Australia, featuring nearly 400 extraordinary jewels, timepieces, and precious objects. But the best part is hidden in the new jewelry we can see for the first time, including Queen Mary's diamond lozenge bandeau tiara, worn and sold by Princess Margaret, the Princess Marie Bonaparte's pearl and diamond bandeau, Sassoon Family's Art Deco diamond necklace, Queen Ina's conch pearl bracelet, and the star of the program was a set of jewels worn by Dame Nellie Melba, Australian operatic soprano. And the second exhibition is running up to September 27th at the Museum of Applied Arts in Vienna, showing rare historical objects from the museum collection with iconic Van Cleef and Arpels creations, spanning the 120-year history of the Parisian Maison, including new acquisitions and long-term loans, such as a five-leaf brooch worn by Maria Callas, an iconic Jarrettier bracelet worn by Marlene Dietrich, and rarely seen Izmir necklace. So if you have time, you still can watch them closely. For sure, the summer of 2026 has been unusually generous to lovers of royal jewelry. We saw new tiara wearers, historic wedding heirlooms, imperial jewels, royal sapphires, old diamonds and pieces that had been hidden from public view for years. There was something particularly special about the variety. Some jewels represented nations and centuries of diplomatic history. Others were much more personal, chosen for a wedding, inherited through a family, or transformed by the woman who wears them. And perhaps that is what made this summer so memorable. And ahead we are looking forward to new state banquets and maybe new jewels waiting to be rediscovered. At any rate, diamonds are still the royals' best friends, and we can't wait for a new portion to come. And don't forget to follow our channel to witness more events and journeys through centuries of royal jewelry.