The Oriental Circlet Tiara

The Oriental Circlet Tiara in the British Royal Collection was created by royal jeweler, Garrard, for Queen Victoria in 1853 under the direction of her beloved husband, Prince Albert, who had a magnificent eye for design. Over Queen Victoria’s reign, Prince Albert designed many jewels for his wife and daughters. The Oriental Circlet Tiara is an Indian-inspired design of lotus flowers and Mughal arches.

Originally it was set in opals with 2,600 diamonds forming a complete circle before it was altered in 1858 to make the small space in the back. When Queen Victoria’s daughter-in-law, Queen Alexandra (Princess Alix of Denmark), inherited the tiara in 1901, she replaced the opals with Burmese rubies that had been given to Queen Victoria in the 1870s by the ruler of Nepal. Queen Alexandra only wore the tiara once in public on a state visit to Germany.

The Oriental Circlet Tiara wasn’t seen again until the reign of King George VI. His Queen Consort, Elizabeth, wore it in 1936 and thereafter on many occasions. It became one of her favorite jewels paired with a gorgeous ruby and diamond neckless and dangling ruby earrings. When Queen Elizabeth II came to the throne in 1952 she let the Queen Mother continue wearing the tiara. I can’t help thinking , wow what a huge collection of jewelry the British royal family has, as we can see QE II wears an entirely different ruby necklace and earrings than her mother wore with the tiara. The rubies in both sets are spectacular!

After the Queen Mother’s death in 2002, Queen Elizabeth II only wore The Oriental Circlet Tiara one time ... on a trip to Malta in 2005.

Twenty years later on December 3, 2025, Catherine, the Princess of Wales, stepped out wearing The Oriental Circlet Tiara to the German State Dinner held at Windsor Castle. It was only the 5th tiara from the Royal Collection, Catherine has worn, and she looked dazzling as always.

Photo: Getty. The other photos are everywhere on the web.

Kate, as we Americans affectionately call her, was a tad more understated in the jewelry she paired with The Oriental Circlet Tiara, but I bet Prince William would tell us that Catherine, herself, was the main jewel in the crown that evening!

Oh, I’d love to spend the day with her and maybe she’d be good-hearted enough to show me all of those beautiful tiaras so rich in British history. Let’s pretend she would! Which are your favorites?

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Queen Mary of Denmark has a new tiara! The Danish royal family has the tradition of preserving its history by repurposing old jewelry that is no longer worn into new contemporary pieces, and this is what Queen Mary did when commissioning her new tiara. It joins Denmark's Crown Jewels.

Called the Rose Diamond Bandeau, the new Danish tiara features rose-cut natural diamonds that were once part of a diamond girdle (or belt) owned by Princess Charlotte Amalie of Denmark (1706 - 1782), daughter of Frederick IV. Suffice it to say nobody wears a diamond girdle anymore, but royals still wear tiaras and crowns for coronations, royal weddings, and state banquets. 

Old Diamond Cuts including the Rose and Old Mine Cuts

The effect created by cutting gemstones has changed over time with the advancement of new tools. Rose-cut diamonds are an old style of diamond-cutting by hand that has been replaced by today's brilliant-cut diamonds to enhance a gemstone's sparkle. Unlike brilliant-cut diamonds, rose-cut diamonds lack a pointy bottom pavilion. Instead, they have a flatter bottom and feature a dome crown of only 3 to 24 facets, which is fewer than the brilliant-cut's 57 to 58 facets. A rose-cut diamond is meant to glow under candlelight in lieu of flashing all over the room. Often it is described as a romantic cut of diamond.

The photos I've uploaded here are courtesy of the Royal Danish House and Royal Danish Collection. The above image on the left shows us the original girdle. Here's a link to explain more about the history of the piece and the process of changing it into a tiara if you're interested in knowing the details.

The images of Queen Mary of Denmark show her premiering her new Rose Diamond Bandeau in December 2024 at a State Dinner for Egypt. 

The press has mentioned how the mounting of the Rose Diamond Bandeau is similar to the Dutch Diamond Bandeau, a favorite tiara of Queen Maxima of the Netherlands. The Dutch Diamond Bandeau tiara, once a Queen's necklace, has its own history. As it turns out, its giant diamonds are old mine-cut diamonds in contrast to the Danish tiara's rose-cut diamonds. 

Brilliant, Rose, and Old Mine Cut Diamonds

BTW, a bandeau tiara is defined as a hairpiece comprised of a single row of gemstones. Usually, the bottoms of diamonds are enclosed, not exposed as in other styles of tiaras.

Queen vs Commoner🙂 As an ordinary person who doesn't host or attend state dinners, a bandeau tiara reminds me of a row of diamonds on a tennis bracelet. For sure a single row of big ole diamonds is lovely in all forms of jewelry!

Well done, Queen Mary.😍

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