Luxarazzi 101: Hereditary Princess Sophie's Diamond and Sapphire Demi-Parure

Luxarazzi turns ten this year, Luxarazzi 101 has been around for about seven years - see all our plentiful posts here - and so there aren't very many jewels left for us to have a closer look at. While we admit that all of Team Luxarazzi gets distracted by sparkling objects rather easily, there is also a deeper reason we like royal jewels so much: These tiaras, necklaces, earrings and brooches oftentimes tell fascinating stories, help you to trace history and show the connection of royal families. Just think of this diamond and pearl brooch that has been owned by at least three reigning European families, Queen Victoria Eugenia's Aquamarine Tiara or the Habsburg Fringe Tiara.

Back in the day, when royal ladies married into other houses, they brought along some of their family's sparkling jewellery. While we don't see that as often anymore these days, there are still a few examples. Cases in point: Both Hereditary Princess Sophie of Liechtenstein and Hereditary Grand Duchess Stéphanie of Luxembourg, who are both of royal/noble descent. While yours truly hopes that Sophie is one day in the hopefully distant future set to inherit her mother's Douglas Floral Tiara, we are going to have a closer look at a sapphire and diamond demi-parure already owned by the Hereditary Princess, who was born a Duchess in Bavaria, today.

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Truth be told though, we don't actually know for a fact that the necklace and earrings, which can be worn in at least two different settings, has been in the Wittelsbach family before Sophie married Hereditary Prince Alois. However, with the depth of their jewellery collection, it is not hard to imagine. The Hereditary Princess first wore the demi-parure for her pre-wedding ball at Schloss Nymphenburg in 1993 together with the Bavarian Pearl and Diamond Floral Tiara. Since then, she has oftentimes worn the pieces consisting of a single sapphires each surrounded by diamonds for events that required some major bling yet no tiara. And who knows, maybe we will see the pieces again later this week as there is a very rare royal event coming up: A Liechtenstein state visit... So keep your fingers crossed for these (or any, really) major jewels!

And if you would like to keep yourself busy with some more jewellery while we wait for the state visit to Switzerland, check out this documentary on the jewels of the Wittelsbach family, which includes interviews with Sophie's father, Duke Max in Bavaria, and also her uncle Duke Franz of Bavaria.