The Queen Mother’s Emerald Cartier Bracelet for Queen Camilla at Grosvenor House

Queen Camilla of the United Kingdom spent Valentine’s Day evening without her sweetheart, but he was surely on her mind as she celebrated a playwright who is close to his heart—and wore a bracelet that belonged to his beloved grandmother.

On Wednesday, Queen Camilla headed to Grosvenor House for a “Celebration of Shakespeare” event. Buckingham Palace explains that the Queen spent the evening “meeting fans of the playwright’s work, including stars of stage and screen, authors, directors, and representatives of the National Theatre and The Royal Shakespeare Company.” The star-studded celebration was attended by numerous prominent British actors and actresses, including a whole host of Dames, pictured with Camilla above.

There were plenty of actors in attendance as well, including the star of my current favorite television show, All Creatures Great and Small. Samuel West, pictured at the right-hand side of the photograph, plays Siegfried Farnon in the series. (Don’t leave any spoilers below—I’m not finished with season four yet. It’s still airing here on PBS in America and I’ve got two episodes waiting for my on my DVR!)

But back to Camilla! She wore a green velvet dress for the event, accessorized with pieces from her collection of jewels by Van Cleef & Arpels. She wore her diamond Magic Alhambra earrings from the brand, plus her ever-present blue agate Vintage Alhambra bracelet.

But it was a bracelet on Camilla’s other wrist that really caught my eye. Just like Camilla’s diamond engagement ring, this diamond and emerald bracelet is from the collection of Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother.

The diamond and emerald bracelet is part of a set of five, made by Cartier in the 1920s. The Art Deco bracelets were acquired by the Duke of York (later King George VI) for his wife, the Duchess of York (later Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother) not long after their royal wedding in 1923. Two of the bracelets are set with diamonds, and the other three include one with diamonds and rubies, one with diamonds and sapphires, and one with diamonds and emeralds. Above, Elizabeth wears all five bracelets on her left wrist in a portrait taken in the 1920s. (Her other jewels, discussed here, include her sapphire engagement ring, the Duchess of Teck’s Flower Brooch, and the Strathmore Rose Tiara.)

Three of the bracelets are also able to be set on a bandeau-style frame and worn as a tiara. Elizabeth wears the tiara setting of the piece above in the Royal Box at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden in the summer of 1933.

Here’s a look at the tiara setting in a catalogue photograph from the Cartier archives. Presumably, the tiara fittings for the piece still exist in the royal vaults today. A good photograph of all five of the bracelets in color can also be found in Angela Kelly’s 2012 book Dressing the Queen.

From the Queen Mother, the bracelets were passed down to Queen Elizabeth II, who wore them occasionally for gala events, usually one or two at a time. In December 2019, she wore one of the all-diamond bracelets with the diamond and emerald bracelet for the annual Diplomatic Reception at Buckingham Palace, pairing them with the Cambridge Emerald setting of the Vladimir Tiara, the Greville Emerald Earrings, and a spectacular diamond and emerald necklace.

Here’s a closer look at the two bracelets as worn by the late Queen during that Diplomatic Reception.

And here’s one more look at Queen Camilla wearing the diamond and emerald bracelet in London on Valentine’s Day.