DANISH RUBY PARURE 075
T
he Danish ruby parure is a
breathtakingly beautiful set of
jewellery, with a royal pedigree
that stretches back over 200
years. Its story begins with the coronation
of Napoleon I in 1804. To ensure that this
was a spectacular occasion, he gave all his
marshals funds to buy new jewellery for their
ladies. Among them was Jean Bernadotte,
who commissioned the parure for his wife,
Désirée Clary. Both were commoners at this
point, but Bernadotte was later elected heir
to the Swedish throne, and Désirée became
Queen Desideria (see pp.108–09). The parure
passed into the Danish royal family in 1869,
when Princess Louise received the jewels
as a wedding present. Although Swedish
herself, she was marrying the future King
Frederik VIII of Denmark. The gift was
deemed particularly appropriate as the
diamonds and rubies echoed the colours of
the Danish flag. The parure currently belongs
to Crown Princess Mary of Denmark.
The showpiece of the parure is the
stunning wreath tiara, composed of
diamond-encrusted leaves and ruby
“berries”. The small rubies have been
cleverly set in clusters, so that they appearlarger. Their colouring is light, nearer to pink
than blood-red, but it has been claimed
that this makes them more wearable,
especially with blue or purple ensembles.
The precise make-up of the parure has
varied over the years. Originally, the leaves
were hair ornaments, and they were only
modelled into a tiara in 1898. There have
since been two major restylings, in 1947
and 2010. In these, the tiara has been made
more compact, while the girandole earrings
and necklace have been modified, to allow
them to be worn with different accessories.Key dates
1804–2010
180018501900195020102000Crown Princess Mary of
Denmark with the parureI see the natural beauty of
the stones... I look at colours,
sharpening, brightness
Per Dirksen
Goldsmith, on the remodelling of the tiaraDanish ruby parure
Tiara from the parure featuring leaf shapes set with diamonds, interspersed
with “berry” clusters composed of rubiesNapoleon I crowns his wife Josephine as empress in
a painting by Jacques-Louis David, 1807△ Ruby ring from the parure in its current form1804 Désirée Clary wears
the ruby parure at the
Coronation of Napoleon
Bonaparte1947 Ingrid enlarges
the tiara by adding two
brooches from the parure1869 Princess Louise
receives the parure as
a wedding gift1926 Queen Louise dies
and the tiara is reunited
with the rest of the parure1829 Désirée is crowned
Queen Desideria of Sweden1898 The ruby parure is
split up, with the tiara
passing to Alexandrine of
Mecklenburg-Schwerin1935 Alexandrine gives
Princess Ingrid
the parure when she
marries Prince Frederik2010 The parure is
remodelled by the jewellery
company Marianne Dulong2004 Crown Princess
Mary wears the rubies
for the first time (acquiring
it as a wedding gift)2020Rubies set
in clustersDiamond-studded
leaves074-075_STO_Danish_Ruby_Parure.indd 75 19/05/2016 12:53