Had those jewels remained in the main line of the British Royal family I think no other Royal family could possibly compete.
The jewels of QE1st are not readily delved into but from several portraits we know she was very similar to Queen Mary/ Alexandra.
The BRF are believed, and it have been said to have mostly diamonds of the first water. And all the colored stones are of extreme good quality.
I have heard that say the diamonds in other Royal families are not really of top quality and it would be interesting to know how many diamonds in Royal households carry the distinction of having D quality type stones, and top quality rubies and emeralds.
Another late Queen who would have added greatly to the BRF collection is the late QEQM who's jewel legacies remain somewhat under wraps, just to think she held possession of not one but 2 grand emerald and diamond necklaces and an emerald tiara which some estimates place at between 5 to 10 million quid is enough to place her family on the top of having the biggest and most valuable jewel collection maybe in the European setting as maybe the mideastern royals may well surpass them.
But for the mere fact that the mideastern royals and their jewels came about with the oil boom I cannot just compare new stones with historical ones thereby meaning that I would have to place the mideastern Royal Collections below historical ones.
Let me just add here that the Iranian, Turkish and Egyptian Royal families is or would be possibly higher up the ranks in jewel collection as well.
My contenders for most valuable/ largest jewel collection are as follows:
(01): The Russian Tzars.
(02): The Shah of Iran to tie with the Indian maharajas.
(03): The British king/ Emperor. This family's collection is of a profound Importance and judging from the many interrelated marriages which supplied most other Royal and noble houses, the jewels lost from the main line due to same and the reported largeness of a still growing collection this may actually be really the second on this list.
(04): The Thailand RF.
(05): The French Royal family. They are only second to the British RF because the British had a bigger empire and still retain the largest ever found top quality diamond in the world up to today.
(06): The Turkish Emperor?
(07): The Dutch Royal family.
(08): The Swedish RF to tie with the Danish RF.
(09): The Spanish RF. This family's collection if one takes into account the artifacts they raided from the then new world would place them higher up the scale, and if one takes into account the large I believe personal collection of Queen Sofia then they may be ahead of the Swedes.
(10): The Luxembourg Grand Ducal family. This family may actually tie with the Swedish royal family.
(11): The Emir or is it Saltant of Bahrain. The jewels in this household are extremely large and I am sure of top quality. I put the Kuwait and Saudi Royal families on par although as I said their jewels are devoid of any historical significance.
(12): Prince of Monaco, I can't quite remember if they are actually considered Royal, I can't remember the exact term they use for this house hold. But what I do know is that they do possess a large and notable jewel collection.
(13): The Liechtenstein family. I have never really noted this family to have a large or valuable jewel collection.
(14): The Emperor of Japan. This Imperial household has a large tiara collection all of white stones and they are large.
(15): The Greek RF.
(16): The Austrian RF.
(17): The Portuguese RF. This family was actually claimed to have at one time the 2nd or 3rd most valuable/ biggest jewel collection in Europe.
(18): The Italian RF.
(19): The Romanian RF.
(20): The Norwegian RF. This family's jewel collection most of it being derived from their British inlaws may actually be 15 on the list.
(21): The Belgium RF.
(22): The German Kaiser. I am not sure I could give a place to the last Kaiser and his family as Germany was really a divided state of dukedoms.
But the above is just an assumption of the jewel collections of Royal families past and present and how they may peer up with each other.
Regards,
Dave.
It's always fun to play "what if?", and if all the jewels belonging to the first three Bernadotte queens were a part of their foundation, that would be a stupendous collection with the most beautiful wearable western style jewels in any European house.
However if that had occurred and at the same time all the jewels owned by Queens Victoria, Alexandra and Mary had passed on to Queen Elizabeth II, the Swedes might end up having the prettiest pieces, but the British numbers would be much larger as their collection would be enormous.
Items from Queen Victoria's collection given outside the mainline: Turquoise, emerald and sapphire tiaras & suites designed by Albert, plus the ruby & diamond strawberry tiara, the pearl & diamond Aga Khan tiara, small sun-ray tiara, and pearl & lasque diamond tiara. Also the wonderful diamonds from the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire that she wore to her wedding. There are more.
From Q.Alexandra's collection the British mainline no longer has her valuable "Rundell" wedding gift tiara, and Norway obtained her turquoise tiara and maltese cross and fleur de lis diadem plus other jewels. Her amethyst parure is gone and also her sapphires.
From Q. Mary's collection the mainline has lost the Cambridge sapphire grand parure and a diamond bandeau to the Kents, and the Iveagh and the Honeysuckle tiaras and Teck turquoise parure to the Gloucesters. Not sure if Mary the princess royal received the laurel wreath diadem.
Pss Margaret apparently received Mary's amethyst parure with tiara, and a Mount Stephen riviere necklace.
Many of Mary's necklaces ended up outside the mainline.
These may only be part of what is missing from the total. Leslie Field and others tell of prime minister Disraeli's recollection of Victoria showing him at the banquet to celebrate her obtaining the Empress of India title "three large leather cases that were filled with princely tributes of priceless jewels". More jewels as gifts poured in for her golden and diamond jubilee. During his 1875-76 tour of the Indian sub-continent Bertie prince of wales was said to have received jeweled gifts for Alexandra. More were sent as coronation presents, and George and Mary were given many jeweled gifts during their 1911 Delhi Durbar tour. We have no idea how much was given away and how much lies buried in the vaults
...but imagine if all of the jewels of the first three Bernadotte Queens had been placed in the Bernadotte foundation? It would arguably be the widest and finest collection bar none.
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