Luxarazzi 101: Diamond Epaulette Brooch

Once upon a time even royal men used to wear sparkly jewellery. For example, during the 18th century, royal men liked to adorn the shoulders of their coats with diamond epaulettes. Traditionally epaulettes are a type of ornamental shoulder piece or decoration used as insignia of rank by armed forces and other organisations. Having them made out of diamonds probably showed just how rich and important you were. This fashion, however, went out of fashion in the early nineteenth century. 

Many of the diamond epaulettes were broken up, others turned into earrings. One Nassau epaulette seems to also have been saved from being broken up as well and is today used as a brooch. If the brooch worn by both Grand Duchess Charlotte and Grand Duchess Maria Teresa is, in fact, not a former epaulette, it must have at least been heavily inspired by it. And while I'm not necessarily a fan of how Grand Duchess Maria Teresa wore the epaulette as a brooch (with the emerald jewellery), I totally love it on Grand Duchess Charlotte. She simply had that je ne sais quoi about her to make even the biggest jewels look like it was the world's most normal thing to wear them. (By the way, she's dancing with King Olav V of Norway above.)