Tiara Watches of the Day: October 30

Big stuff happening in Tiara World. BIG stuff. So, in lieu of our regularly scheduled Thursday posts, we're going to have one big, fat round up of state visity goodness - featuring tiaras from the Netherlands, Japan, and Spain! Read on for sparkle...

The Dutch King and Queen are on a state visit to Japan, and you know this is when Máxima brings it.
And it has been brought, my friends, starting with a fun full skirt dress in a pumpkin shade, totally brought to life by a gold belt and gold shoes. The dress is from designer Mattijs van Bergen, worn with another donut hat from Fabienne Delvigne.
This visit heralded the return of Crown Princess Masako to the state visit stage, and she was ready to go, even sporting an orange outfit to welcome her Orange guests (and matching her friend, Queen Máx). Awww.

In the evening, the Emperor and Empress held a state banquet, and Máxima continued to BRING IT.
Why yes, this is the first time she's worn the Württemberg Ornate Pearl Tiara, one of the family big guns that was one of Beatrix's favorites when she was queen. A perfect choice, stepping it up for her first state visit to another monarchy. She's also wearing a downsized version of the bow brooch from the Stuart parure. I'm not in love with the gown - a Jan Taminiau from Prinsjesdag 2013 - paired with this particular riband (the Order of the Precious Crown, awarded to her by the Emperor) but give me a mega tiara and I magically forget all of that.
The Empress did not wear a tiara, which was predictable; she's opted out of tiara-wearing in the past couple years, apparently for health reasons, the weight of a tiara being pretty substantial. The rest of the Japanese ladies were out in full force (even those that we don't see here), including Princess Kiko wearing the Akishino Tiara (bottom left, above).
Video, the banquet
Masako, who looked happy to be at her first state banquet in more than a decade, gave us the best look yet at the Japanese Pearl Sunburst Tiara (and its accompanying parure). There's a lot more detail there, an intricate center section and some variation  in the style of the fringes underneath the pearls, and a whole lot of sparkle. Fantastic.


Next! Over to Spain, where yesterday the King and Queen welcomed the President of Chile. This is the first formal state visit of Felipe's reign.
I think the suit Letizia chose for the official welcome belongs on Queen Sofia, to be honest. But! Once again we have redemption at the state banquet, with tiara in place.
Letizia wore the Spanish Floral Tiara, no surprise there - predictably, she didn't bust out anything reserved for the queen right away. On this occasion, it was the perfect match to her delicate gown. (Easy for me to say, it is my favorite Spanish tiara.)
She donned another Carolina Herrera dress, and this one is the best yet! Yes, we're back to the lace trend, but this is the kind that's right up my alley. I like delicate patterns and I like black and I like this, 100% like it. The trumpet flare at the bottom would be a disastrous silhouette on so many people, but for Letizia, it's fantastic.
I'm putting this under serious consideration for Letizia's best of the year. You've been warned.
And one hair shot, just for good measure.


Ahhhhhh. Talk amongst yourselves, I'll be over here, collapsed in a tiara-filled daze......

Photos: Getty Images as indicated, News Japan and ANN News video, Neiman Marcus