cartier – Page 11

Grace Kelly’s Engagement Rings

11.19.2019 by The Court Jeweller // Leave a Comment

Prince Rainier, Grace Kelly, and her parents pose during a press conference announcing Grace and Rainier’s engagement, January 1956 (Pictorial Press Ltd/Alamy)

As Monaco celebrates its National Day today, I’ve got a closer look at two of the most intriguing jewels from the late Princess Grace’s collection: her engagement rings.

Grace shows her engagement ring to her mother, Margaret Kelly, during the engagement press conference, January 1956 (AFP via Getty Images)

Yes, you read that right: rings, plural. The first, more modest ring was presented to Grace by Prince Rainier when he proposed to her over the Christmas holidays in December 1955/January 1956. The actress and the prince had met the previous May, and they’d carried out a sort of epistolary romance, corresponding across the Atlantic while she filmed movies and he dealt with drama over the insecure succession in Monaco.

Grace shows off her ruby and diamond ring during the press conference in Philadelphia held to officially announce her engagement in January 1956 (Pictorial Press Ltd/Alamy)

A few days after their second in-person meeting, which happened at Christmas in 1955, Rainier offered Grace a diamond and ruby ring from Cartier. The public got a first glimpse at the ring on January 5, 1956, when the engagement was officially announced at a Philadelphia country club. The Philadelphia Inquirer described Grace’s ring during the official press conference: “Grace, wearing a champagne colored dress of wool with gold metallic dots and gold collar clips and earrings, sported a handsome engagement ring, which the Prince had ordered fashioned from two family heirlooms, in the form of a diamond circlet and ruby circlet intertwined.”

Grace wears her second engagement ring in a scene from High Society with Frank Sinatra

The diamond and ruby engagement ring was described prominently in news reports in the day following the engagement, but when Grace returned to Hollywood to begin filming High Society, another ring suddenly appeared on her finger instead. Press shots from the set on the first days of filming in January 1956 show her wearing an enormous diamond ring while in costume for her role as Tracy Lord.

Grace “polishes” her diamond engagement ring in a scene from High Society

The press picked up on the ring swap, and Grace addressed the switch in a press interview. She told gossip columnist Louella Parsons that she’d been due to wear an prop diamond ring in High Society, but Rainier had offered her a real one as a second engagement ring. She happily explained, “now I can wear my real engagement ring” in the film, after getting the okay from the film’s director. The Philadelphia Inquirer trumpeted that the ring would be “one of the ‘stars’ of the picture.” One High Society scene, which playfully acknowledged the ring (and, implicitly, the press surrounding Grace during filming), even shows Grace breathing on the ring and polishing it on a pillow.

Grace’s diamond ring, on display with other Cartier jewels at the Denver Art Museum in 2015

The second ring was a stunner. Also made by Cartier, it featured a 10.5-carat emerald-cut diamond flanked by a pair of diamond baguettes. (Press articles from 1956 exaggerated the size a bit, calling it a 12-carat diamond.) So why the switch? Grace’s friend Judith Balaban Quine wrote that the original ring had always been intended as a “friendship ring,” a placeholder while a “proper engagement ring” was being made.

Grace wears her diamond engagement ring in a portrait, 1956 (ScreenProd/Photononstop/Alamy)

Quine also revealed that Grace always knew a bigger ring was coming, and she even suggests that the prop that had been made for High Society served as the inspiration for the real diamond ring Rainier commissioned for Grace. But why hadn’t Rainier simply brought along a traditional diamond engagement ring to America? Just before he sailed back to Europe in March 1956, he told gathered reporters simply that “it is silly to count your chickens before they are hatched.” In the end, both the ruby and diamond friendship ring and the massive diamond engagement ring became regular parts of Grace’s jewelry wardrobe, worn until her death in 1982.

Lady Granard’s Diamonds

11.12.2019 by The Court Jeweller // Leave a Comment

Christie’s

Today in Geneva, Christie’s will auction an impressive collection of jewels that belonged to an intriguing British aristocrat. Here’s a closer look at the jewels that once belonged to Beatrice Forbes, Countess of Granard.

Lady Granard, ca. 1910 (Bain News Service/Wikimedia Commons)

Born Jane Beatrice Mills in Newport, Rhode Island, Lady Granard was one of the group of American heiresses known as “the Buccaneers.” At the turn of the twentieth-century, the fortunes of the Buccaneers helped shore up the estates and lifestyles of the British aristocrats who married them. Beatrice was twenty-five when she married Bernard Forbes, 8th Earl of Granard in 1909. Bernard was involved in both British and Irish politics, and his influence brought him into the royal household; he served as Master of the Horse to Kings Edward VII and George V.

Beatrice came from an equestrian family as well. Her father, the financier Ogden Mills, bred horses at their estate, and her sister and brother-in-law established one of the most important racing operations in America. She inherited her father’s stable of horses when he died in 1929, and her horses subsequently won some of the most prestigious races in Europe.

Christie’s

Beatrice’s life spanned from the late Victorian era all the way to the 1970s, and her jewelry collection reflected the shifting tastes that spanned that period. The first lot in the auction is this pair of diamond and gold bracelets from Boucheron, which can also be linked together and worn as a necklace. The pair are expected to bring between $25,000-35,000 USD.

Christie’s

These sleek diamond brooches were made in France in the 1930s, and their design reflects the Art Deco style prominent during that era. All three brooches feature circular and baguette-cut diamonds set in platinum and gold. The trio is estimated to sell for between $15,000-20,000 USD.

Christie’s

This stunning emerald and diamond ring, made of platinum and gold, is a size seven, for those who might be looking for a Cinderella-esque jewelry moment!

Christie’s

Here’s a closer look at the impressive cabochon emerald set in the ring. The ring’s auction estimate is set between $10,000-15,000 USD.

Christie’s

These diamond and pearl earrings were made in the 1960s, near the end of Beatrice’s life. They’re some of the most affordable jewels in the auction (expected to bring between $8,000-12,000 USD), primarily because the pearl drops are cultured.

Christie’s

The auction also features this mid-century diamond bracelet, made in France in the 1950s and typical of the designs of that decade. The bracelet features circular and baguette-cut diamonds set in platinum and gold, and it’s anticipated to sell for between $30,000-40,000 USD.

Christie’s

All of these jewels are advertised as “the Property of a Lady of Title” in the auction notes, and two of the pieces have been sold previously in a notable auction. One of them is this lovely Art Deco diamond and platinum bracelet, which was auctioned in 1994 at Christie’s in St. Moritz. The bracelet, which was made in the 1930s, is expected to bring between $20,000-30,000 USD this time around.

Christie’s

Also included in that 1994 sale were these three diamond, platinum, and gold brooches. These are clearly positioned as the star lot in this group. Christie’s describes them as: “old pear-shaped diamond of 13.74 carats, cushion-shaped diamonds of 7.54 and 6.15 carats, old and circular-cut diamonds, platinum and gold.” The brooches, made by Cartier, were originally part of a tiara made for Lady Granard in 1937 and worn at the coronation of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth that year.

The tiara was a whopper of a diadem. In Tiaras: Past and Present, Geoffrey Munn describes it as a “truly magnificent tiara of oriental inspiration,” set with diamonds and sapphires. Munn adds, “Brilliant and pear-shaped stones of great value are incorporated into the design; some are old-cut, and must have come from the Granard family collection.” (You can see an image of the tiara here.)

Christie’s

The three diamond clip-style brooches featured in this auction were the central element and two of the side elements from that tiara. Now, they’re able to be worn independently, or on a “later imitation pearl and diamond setting” as a necklace, illustrated above. The lot notes state that “Christie’s is honoured to offer these beautiful Art Deco brooches, rare witnesses of a bygone era.” They’re expecting a big moment for these, setting the auction estimate at between $180,000-220,000 USD.

The Court Jeweller Book Club: November 2019

11.05.2019 by The Court Jeweller // Leave a Comment

Image: The Court Jeweller

The new month has begun, so it’s time to chat about what we’ve all been reading! If you missed last month’s post, we’ve been switching up the format for our book club, and this month’s post includes a rundown of my recent royal reading and some new royal books that will be in stores this month…

Image: The Court Jeweller

Without a doubt, one of the most exciting recent new releases for royal readers has been The Other Side of the Coin (Harper Collins, Oct 29), the second book published by the Queen’s Personal Adviser and Curator, Angela Kelly. She has worked as a dresser and designer for the Queen for more than two decades, and the book details the story of her arrival in the royal household, as well as a breakdown of the various parts of her job. Kelly is involved in nearly every aspect of the Queen’s public appearance; she designs much of HM’s wardrobe, cares for and curates her jewelry, and works with a large staff to maintain the Queen’s clothing, accessories, and hats. (She’s even responsible for monitoring the Queen’s health and communicating with her team of doctors.)

The book is a fascinating look into the world of the Queen’s daily life, and for those fascinated by the royal calendar and the Queen’s wardrobe, you won’t be disappointed. There’s some jewelry content included too, though not as much as was in Kelly’s earlier book, Dressing the Queen (Royal Collection Trust, 2013). (There are also some confusing jewelry history discussions, notably one about the necklaces worn by the Queen to the State Opening of Parliament.) Overall it’s an enjoyable memoir written by one of the people who is closest to the Queen.

Along with delving into Angela Kelly’s book, my recent royal reading has also included two other books related to British royalty. I received a review copy of Robert Jobson’s latest book, King Charles (Diversion, Nov 12), published last year in Britain under the title Charles at Seventy. The book wasn’t a favorite of mine — though there were some interesting revelations thanks to Jobson’s personal interviews with Charles, much of the book felt like disorganized, repetitive content straight from previous newspaper coverage. I’ve been much more delighted by Anne Glenconner’s fantastic new memoir, Lady-in-Waiting (Hachette, March 2020). I dove in the moment the review copy hit my desk, and I haven’t been even a little bit disappointed. Lady Anne writes deftly and recalls a fascinating life, with cameos from members of the royal family at every turn. The coronation, Princess Margaret and Colin Tennant, etc. — it’s all here. Don’t miss this one when it comes out next year! (You can pre-order it now — I often do this so that a book shows up right at my doorstep on the day it’s published!)

There are also three more books coming out in November that I thought would be especially of note. The first one, The Other Windsor Girl (William Morrow, Nov 5), is an extremely entertaining novel by Georgie Blalock about the “set” that surrounded Princess Margaret in the ’40s and ’50s. I read a review copy several weeks ago and thoroughly enjoyed it. (I even recommended it in a recent issue of my newsletter!) With the new season of The Crown debuting on November 17, we’re also getting a second tie-in book from Robert Lacey, The Crown: The Official Companion, Volume II (Crown, Nov 19). Lacey is the show’s historical consultant; I haven’t read this one (or the previous volume, incidentally), but die-hard fans of the show may want to snap it up.

Even though I’m in the middle of another book, I couldn’t help myself from reading the first few chapters of my review copy of The Cartiers (Ballantine, Nov 26), a new history of the family written by Jean-Jacques Cartier’s granddaughter, the writer and lecturer Francesca Cartier Brickell. If the rest of the book is as fascinating as the beginning, this one’s going to be a show-stopper. And finally, don’t miss The Season (WW Norton, Nov 19), Kristen Richardson’s fascinating history of the London society season and the debutantes that populated its reception rooms. I read a copy a few months ago, and it’s a captivating history of the rituals of an era gone by.

That’s a roundup of some of my recent royal reads and recommendations, now it’s your turn! What have you been reading lately?

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