Sapphires Worn at Two Swedish Royal Weddings Go to Auction in Geneva

A sapphire and diamond necklace worn at two Swedish royal weddings will be sold at auction in Geneva on November 11. The piece is the star lot in Sotheby's Royal and Noble Jewels Sale, according to Town & Country.

The set is a parure, a matching group of jewelry. It includes the necklace and a pair of pendant earrings. Sotheby's catalogs it as the "Impressive Sapphire and Diamond Demi-Parure," and the set has an estimated starting bid of 300,000 to 500,000 Swiss francs, or $362,000 to $604,000.

The previous owner was Princess Birgitta of Sweden, the older sister of King Carl XVI Gustaf. She was born in 1937 and died in 2024. More than half a dozen listings in the sale name her as the most recent owner. Many of her jewels came from her mother, Princess Sibylla of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha.

The necklace has a long trail of royal owners. The sapphires once belonged to Dagmar of Denmark, who became Empress Maria Feodorovna of Russia. In 1932, Tsar Ferdinand of Bulgaria gave the necklace to Sibylla as a wedding present. Birgitta inherited it, and she wore it to the wedding of Crown Princess Victoria in 2010. She wore it again to the wedding of Princess Madeleine in 2013.

Sotheby's describes a graduated row of cabochon sapphires. A cabochon is a smooth, rounded stone with no facets. The stones are framed by old European-cut diamonds, an early round cut, held in place by millegrain settings, which are tiny beaded metal edges.

Sweden's Royal Court, the office that supports the king's household, has said that jewelry sold at auction is private property. It is not state property or foundation property. That distinction matters in Sweden, where the royal family's public role is paid for by the state while personal belongings are not.

Auctions are one way that heirloom jewelry leaves a family. This sale puts pieces that moved through several royal households into the hands of new owners, and the sapphires will be sold on November 11 in Geneva.