Not Rubies, Nor Sapphires; Most Surprising Tiara Collection with Rarest Gems

Today, let's forget about emeralds, sapphires, rubies, and even aquamarines, the gemstones that usually dominate royal vaults across Europe. Of course, there are also the legendary all-diamond masterpieces. They are breathtaking, timeless, and impossible to ignore. But the more I study royal jewelry collections, the more convinced I become that history has quietly hidden an entirely different world from us. A world where princesses wore pink tourmalines instead of rubies. Where a Swedish tiara can transform into six completely different colors. Where yellow diamonds sparkle beside colorless ones, in a design that almost no one remembers. So today, let's rediscover the most remarkable tiaras that prove nature still had many surprises left for royal jewelers. And before we continue, take a second to subscribe to help us grow and deliver more dazzling videos for you. If someone casually glanced at the House of Savoy tourmaline tiara, they might confidently call it a pink topaz tiara. In fact, for decades, many publications did exactly that. But modern gemological research finally corrected the story. The spectacular pink stones are not topazes at all. They are rare pink tourmalines, among the most desirable varieties of tourmaline found in nature. The tiara forms part of an entire interchangeable perure, once owned by Queen Maria Theresa of Sardinia. Originally presented in 1855 as a wedding gift to Princess Elizabeth of Saxony, the jewel included not only the tiara, but a matching necklace, earrings, bracelets, brooches, and choker. Even more fascinating is the fact that the gemstones themselves were never fixed. The pink tourmalines could actually be removed and replaced with turquoise, corals, or garnets, creating entirely different royal perures depending on fashion or occasion. Queen Margarita later inherited the jewel, helping preserve it inside the House of Savoy after Italian unification. Unlike many royal treasures lost during revolutions, this one remained with the family. We rediscovered this lesser-known creation only in 2003 when Clotilde Couraud chose it for her wedding to Prince Emanuele Filiberto. Nearly 150 years after it had first been worn by another royal bride, the rare pink tourmalines still shine today. Yet even interchangeable gemstones would soon be taken to an entirely new level, because one Swedish princess bride owns perhaps the most versatile tiara in Europe. When Prince Carl Philip of Sweden married Sofia Helgqvist in June 2015, the royal court surprised everyone by presenting the bride with a completely new tiara. It wasn't purchased from a famous jeweler, nor had it belonged to generations of Swedish queens. Instead, it had been transformed from an elaborate diamond and emerald necklace originally presented by a Thai prince during an official state visit. Queen Sylvia commissioned to redesign the magnificent necklace into a tiara worthy of a new princess, which we now know as Princess Sofia's Palmette Tiara. Rows of brilliant diamonds form a delicate frame, while elegant palmette ornaments, a decorative motif dating back to ancient Greece and Egypt, give the tiara its distinctive silhouette. Each decorative mount was engineered so the emerald toppers could be replaced with other gems, or merely worn without toppers at all. But the surprise is hidden in the quantity of interchangeable gems she assembled with years. Some are really rare for royal tiaras. While in the early years she has frequently chosen deep emeralds, creating a striking contrast against light gowns, during Nobel festivities she has worn luminous pearls, giving the tiara an entirely different, softer elegance. But then greatest gems stepped in. Turquoise cabochons transformed the jewel into something unexpectedly youthful. Then came a set of briolette-cut blue topazes she wore in 2022, along with topaz earrings. Then rich London blue topaz settings gave the tiara an entirely new personality, almost resembling an antique jewel, despite being one of Europe's newest royal tiaras. There have even been citrine settings, bathing the diamonds in warm, golden light. In total the tiara has appeared with more gemstone combinations than almost any royal tiara still in active use today. That versatility makes every public appearance exciting yet less spoken about, and that really surprises me. This tiara deserves more attention, just like it happened during the celebration of King Carl Gustav's 80th birthday. Princess Sophia arrived with a new setting of amethysts, presumably made not long ago. Now I believe this tiara transformation is almost unstoppable, and undeniably we may see some more variations in the future, and I guess maybe aquamarines, sapphires, or maybe rare pink topaz? Talking about topaz, history knows few royal peruers with tiaras that were made with standout pink topazes, which still exist in their original form. Few royal jewelry peruers have ever been as unusual as the pink topaz tiara of the House of Hohenzollern. Unlike rubies or sapphires, imperial pink topazes were almost never chosen for royal tiaras. Their gentle rose color is softer than ruby, warmer than pink sapphire, and incredibly difficult to match in large natural stones. That rarity alone makes the tiara extraordinary. The jewel entered the Prussian royal collection as a personal commission of Queen Louise of Prussia and was passed down to the next Princess Louise, preserving a tradition that stretched back generations within the Hohenzollern dynasty. This tiara is designed in the form of a closed circlet, in more imperial style, with large pear-shaped topazes sitting on the diamond leafy band, with round-cut topazes on the small diamond collet frame. Following the passing of the last Princess Louise of Prussia, the suite was acquired by the Albion Art Foundation from Japan. But it wasn't the pink topaz perure that stopped in time. Her death also ended a remarkable seven-generation tradition of direct mothers and daughters named Louise, which began with the famed Queen Louise of Prussia. Too sad that such magnificent tiara and coordinating jewels won't shine at royal galas anymore. But if pink topaz is uncommon, the next gemstone is even rarer. Long before Colombian emeralds flooded European jewelry houses, peridots were among the most treasured green gems in the world. Ancient Egyptians called them the Gems of the Sun, believing they protected their owners from darkness and evil spirits. The Habsburgs clearly appreciated that remarkable history. Instead of following fashion, they commissioned one of the most unusual gemstone perures ever worn by a European archduchess. Made around 1825 by the Austrian imperial jeweler Cukert for Henrietta of Nassau-Weilburg, and then worn by Isabella of Teschen, Princess of the House of Croy, the set included a tiara, necklace, earrings, brooches, and a divan de corsage. At the heart of the collection stood a graceful tiara decorated with large olive green peridots. The pear-shaped peridots from the necklace also could be attached as toppers onto the tiara. Unlike emeralds, whose deep green often absorbs light, fine peridots seem to glow from within. Although the Habsburg monarchy disappeared after the First World War, this remarkable jewel survived as a reminder of an empire and was sold at Sotheby's in London. But where this now and whether it will ever be worn again remains an open question. But our next tiara proves that sometimes the rarest feature isn't the gemstone itself. It's the ability to reinvent the entire jewel whenever its owner wishes. Among Britain's royal tiaras, few are as quietly ingenious as the honeysuckle tiara worn by the Duchess of Gloucester. Beautiful, certainly, but its greatest secret lies hidden at the very center. Unlike most royal tiaras, this one was deliberately designed with a removable central ornament, which is also interchangeable for different gemstones. And the lady behind the creation was none other than the famous Queen of Dismantling, Queen Mary, who used diamonds from Ladies of England tiara and the Surrey Fringe tiara to make the new commission. Originally, the center part could be swapped for the Cullinan five-diamond or a sapphire brooch. But when the tiara was gifted to her daughter-in-law, Princess Alice, it stayed without colored gems for a long time. After Queen Mary's passing, Princess Alice inherited a set of topaz jewels, from where one topaz was placed into the central part of the tiara. Birgitta, Duchess of Gloucester, continued the tradition of wearing a large pink topaz at the center, matching it with a necklace with an even larger pink topaz. At some point, she started to swap pink topaz for emerald, but this version seems not so attractive due to its more dim color. Yet Birgitta is no stranger to extraordinary gemstone tiaras. She also inherited one of Britain's most distinctive creations, the famous Cartier Indian tiara. Its bold geometric lines immediately distinguish it from traditional British diamond tiaras. Rows of pearls soften the architectural structure, while rich blue sapphires create dramatic contrast against the diamonds. Sapphires and pearls are certainly not the rarest gemstone combination. But the artistic design is unlike almost anything else in the British royal vaults. Inspired by Indian architecture and Mughal ornament, rather than European floral motifs, the tiara remains instantly recognizable, nearly a century after Cartier completed it. Yet the final jewel on today's list combines the rarest colored diamonds. Yellow, blue, and a large pink, a gem so exceptional that an entire tiara was created around it. That's Nur Ulayn Tiara, made for Empress Farah by Harry Winston. While by that time she still wasn't a queen nor empress, the Shah commissioned the best wedding tiara for his bride, the one that combined history. When Farah Diba married Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, Shah of Iran, in 1959, the Iranian crown jewels contained one of the world's greatest treasures, a breathtaking pale pink diamond known as the Nur Ulayn, meaning light of the eye. Estimated at approximately 60 carats, it ranks among the largest pink diamonds and is believed to have originated from the legendary Golconda Mines of India, the same historic source that produced many of history's most celebrated diamonds. The famous American jeweler designed a remarkable composition, which took time to think of how to combine the uncut Persian diamonds into one masterpiece. The tiara later appeared at numerous state banquets, official portraits, diplomatic receptions, and formal occasions during her years as Empress of Iran. Now this tiara still exists in the place it was left, the central bank in Tehran, and forms an important part of the Iranian national jewels. Looking across these extraordinary creations, one thing becomes clear. Royal jewelry has never been only about size or even value. Sometimes the greatest masterpieces are those that dared to be different. Pink tourmalines instead of rubies, peridots instead of emeralds, interchangeable gemstones that transform one tiara into many. Together, they remind us that hidden inside royal vaults are still countless stories waiting to be rediscovered. Stories where the rarest gemstone is not always the most famous one, but the one few people ever expected to find. If you like our stories about jewels, take a second to subscribe and write your impressions about tiaras you've seen today. And we wonder if you were ever to buy or commission a tiara, for example, for your wedding, what gemstone would you choose? Share with us and have a nice day.