Meet Denmark’s Newest Natural Diamond-Studded Crown Jewel
The Danish Royal Court has unveiled a new piece in the Crown Jewel Collection, the Danish Rose Diamond Bandeau tiara. Commissioned by Queen Mary, the tiara features rose cut natural diamonds that were once part of a diamond belt or girdle, originally owned by Princess Charlotte Amalie of Denmark in the 1700s.
The Danish Crown Jewelry consists of four sets of parures and are some of the only crown jewels in the world to be both displayed in a museum and worn by high-ranking royals. These four parures include the diamond brilliant parure, the emerald parure, the ruby and pearl parure, and the rose cut diamond parure, from which this new tiara was made. Each of the four suites were put together using heirloom gemstones and diamonds in 1840 by Queen Caroline Amalie, wife of King Christian VII.
The rose cut diamond suite before this recent redesign consisted of a diamond belt or girdle and a diamond brooch that can be broken down into smaller pieces. The diamonds used to create each piece date back to Princess Amalie of Denmark, the only unmarried daughter of King Frederik IV.
Rose cut diamonds are often considered a more romantic cut of diamond. Meant to glow under candlelight, rose cuts were a result of advancing diamond cutting technology in Europe in the 16th century. Unlike a brilliant cut diamond, rose cuts do not have a pavilion—the bottom of a diamond that comes to a point—giving them a flatter shape. They also feature a faceted dome in the crown—the top section seen from above—with anywhere from 3 to 24 facets, much fewer compared to a brilliant cut’s 57 or 58 facets.
The Royal Court released a statement about the redesign sharing, “With the creation of the new frame, The Queen and the Royal Collection are resuming the old tradition of adapting the crown jewels to the demands and needs of the times. This in many ways marks a new path for the Danish crown jewels, uniting the different traditions that have surrounded these four iconic jewelry sets–a path between revitalization and continuity.”
The official Instagram account of the Danish Royal Family Royal also released a video of Queen Mary and royal jewelers in the redesign process, giving us an up-close look at the diamonds and the new tiara on Instagram
These rose cut diamond pieces had rarely seen the light of day in the last few decades, as they were rarely worn by the Queen Margrethe II, who abdicated the throne to her son in January 2024. She wore the brooch on a few occasions, including a celebration for her 50th birthday, but the belt hasn’t been seen since Queen Ingrid wore it as a necklace around 1950.
Queen Mary is breathing new life into these diamonds gives them more chances to shine. And she isn’t the only European royal to have re-set heirloom diamonds—Queen Elizabeth, Princess Diana and Kate Middleton have all been known to give their jewels a makeover.
Although the Crown Jewels cannot leave the country of Denmark, surely Queen Mary has plans to wear the new stunning piece to at-home state visits and celebrations in the future.
