Prince Ricardo De La Cerda
Today marks the 85th Anniversary of the Death of Archduchess Maria Anna, Princess Elias of Bourbon-Parma, who passed away on this day in 1940! The Austrian Archduchess who married the Head of the House of Bourbon-Parma, Archduchess Maria Anna possessed a magnificent jewellery collection, which included the Duchess of Parma’s Diamond Girandole Earrings!
Duchess of Parma’s Diamond Girandole Earrings | Royal Jewels from the Bourbon Parma Family | Queen Marie Antoinette’s Pearl Necklace | Diamond Bracelets
A pair of large diamond earrings, of girandole design, each composed of five large diamonds and three large drops, in a dark blue leather case. The Earrings come from Marie Thérèse de Savoie, Duchess of Parma, wife of Duke Charles II of Parma, and date from the first half of the 19th century.
Of girandole design, each set with cushion-shaped diamonds supporting three pear-shaped diamond pendants, hook and clip fittings, surmounts detachable, fitted case signed Froment-Meurice.
The Jewels were inherited by Robert I, Duke of Parma, who also inherited the Jewels of Queen Marie Antoinette after his childless uncle’s death, and the Diamond Girandole were among the Jewels passed to Archduchess Marie Anne of Austria who married the Duke of Parma’s eventual heir, Prince Elie de Bourbon-Parme, in 1903.
Archduchess Marie Anna notably wore the Diamond Girandole Earrings with her Diamond Fleur de Lys Tiara, Queen Marie Antoinette’s Diamond Bracelets as a Choker and a Diamond Necklace for the Coronation of Emperor Charles I of Austria as King of Hungary in 1916.
Years later, the Diamond Girandole Earrings were in the collection of Archduchess Marie Anne’s daughter, Infanta Alicia, Duchess of Calabria, who notably wore them for a ceremony, likely a Christening of one of her grandchildren, in the 1960s.
Infant Alicia retained her spectacular Jewellery Collection until her death in 2017, just before her 100th Birthday, and the following year, much of her historic collection, which included the Jewels of Queen Marie Antoinette, came up for auction for the first time in history in the ‘Royal Jewels from the Bourbon Parma Family’ Sale at Sotheby’s in Geneva. The Diamond Girandole Earrings had an estimate of 150,000 – 250,000 CHF and eventually sold for 735,000 CHF to V Muse Jewellery.
A few years later, V Muse loaned the Diamond Girandole Earrings to Archduchess Sophia von Habsburg-Lorraine for Le Bal des Débutantes in 2022, who also wore Princess Maria Anna of Bourbon Parma’s Diamond Tiara.
The Diamond Girandole Earrings were worn by Countess Honor d’Andlau-Hombourg for Le Bal des Débutantes at the Shangri La Hotel in Paris in 2023.
Last year, Olivia Meijer wore the Diamond Earrings of Marie Thérèse de Savoie, Duchess of Parma for Le Bal des Débutantes at the Shangri La Hotel in Paris. There is no doubt we will continue to see these Earrings worn again soon!
Duchess of Parma’s Diamond Girandole Earrings | Royal Jewels from the Bourbon Parma Family | Queen Marie Antoinette’s Pearl Necklace | Diamond Bracelets