Classic Pearls for Queen Maxima at Art Biennale in Venice

Is there a better way to start off a new week than with Queen Máxima and five rows of spectacular pearls? I don’t think so! Let’s have a look at the jewels that Máxima wore at Art Biennale in Venice on Wednesday.

On Wednesday, the King and Queen of the Netherlands flew to Italy to be present for the opening of the Dutch Pavilion at La Biennale di Venezia, one of the world’s most spectacular international art exhibitions. The Netherlands pavilion during this edition of the festival was dreamed up by the visual and performance artist Dries Verhoeven and curator Rieke Vos.

For the occasion, Queen Máxima wore a vintage-inspired ensemble in shades of black, white, and gray. UFO No More tells us that her jacket, which is embroidered with a water lily, comes from the Dutch fashion designer Mattijs van Bergen, who also made the water lily printed skirt. Both pieces have been in Máxima’s wardrobe for almost a decade.

Máxima also wore a black picture hat, secured by pearl-tipped hat pins, and additional pearl and diamond jewelry. Her earrings are classic pearl and diamond buttons, and her necklace features five rows of neatly-matched round white pearls.

The necklace has an even more impressive clasp, featuring a large round pearl set in an exquisite double cluster of diamonds. Here, Máxima wears the necklace with the clasp placed to the side during the Danish royal visit in June 2022.

The necklace comes from the Dutch royal vaults and was a favorite of Princess Beatrix for many years, but to the best of my knowledge, its provenance has not been clearly traced. Here, Máxima wears the necklace with another of Beatrix’s favorite jewels, the Ornate Pearl Tiara, for the Italian state banquet in November 2022.

One of Máxima’s most recent appearances in the necklace also featured the same tiara: the state banquet given in honor of the President of Finland last December.

Máxima continued the pearl theme in Venice with her bracelet, wearing an eight-row pearl bracelet with a glamorous ruby and diamond clasp on her right wrist. You can see a good close-up of the bracelet in my post on her jewels from the trip to Suriname in December.

She finished off the look with rings on both hands: her engagement and wedding rings on her left hand, and her diamond and padparadscha sapphire ring on her right. You can read much more about all three rings in this earlier article as well.