History of Famous Jewels and Collections: Re: Order of Victoria and Albert - issues - HH Princess Victoria Eugenie 2nd class badge

As noted in the previous post, by 1905 HH Princess Victoria Eugenie of Battenberg definitely was wearing the insignia of the order's 2nd class.

There are a number of images of her wearing the 2nd class insignia while HM The Queen of Spain. For example...

In the last decades of her life Her Majesty wore the insignia of the Order's 1st Class, specifically the badge that had belonged to her mother. (More on that, and other members of the second class that ended up wearing 1st class badges later in life, in an upcoming post.)

What concerns me now was the sale of her original 2nd class badge.

On March 1, 2017, at their "ORDERS, DECORATIONS, MEDALS AND MILITARIA (1 & 2 MARCH 2017)" auction, Dix Noonan Webb Ltd (https://www.dnw.co.uk/) offered for sale

Lot 968

Described as, "An extremely rare 2nd Class badge of the Royal Order of Victoria and Albert attributed to Princess Victoria Eugenie of Battenberg, Queen Victoria’s last granddaughter, later married to King Alfonso XIII to become Queen Ena of Spain" the badge (and accompanying ceremonial "key to the bedchamber) sold for £10,000

To my eyes the ribbon looks like a new replacement for the original (other examples have taken on a more ivory tinge). Any thoughts my friends?

I'll let you all read the rest of the description, provenance etc on their website. However I will note this sentence, "It consists of a cameo surrounded by pearls and surmounted by an English Royal Crown and is set in precious stones" [Underlining is my emphasis.] As the lot notes describe further down, "The new Second Class, however, was to be ‘smaller but of greater value than the [old] Second Class’. In the end it emerged as a small onyx cameo in a crowned frame of small brilliants."

So why is this badge surrounded by pearls instead of the usual diamonds? In the top photo of HM The Queen of Spain they look like diamonds to me. But I can't be 100% sure until I see a higher resolution photograph. Perhaps during her exile the diamonds were replaced by pearls to help pay some bills? Any thoughts on this quite fascinating piece?