royal brooch – Page 20

The Duchess of Cambridge’s Pearl Pendant Brooch

04.14.2019 by The Court Jeweller // Leave a Comment

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As the Queen’s birthday approaches, we’ve got a look at one of the most timeless heirlooms in her jewelry box: the Duchess of Cambridge’s Pearl Pendant Brooch.

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The brooch is classic in its design: a large pearl, surrounded by a cluster of diamonds, with a diamond and pearl pendant suspended from the cluster. The piece was likely made by Garrard some time in the middle of the nineteenth century, with a setting made of silver. The pendant is detachable, and the cluster also features a loop that allows the entire piece to be worn as a pendant.

Detail, Heinrich von Angeli’s portrait of Princess Augusta, Duchess of Cambridge, 1877

According to Hugh Roberts’s landmark jewelry book, The Queen’s Diamonds, the royals simply call this piece “the Duchess of Cambridge’s Brooch.” The Duchess in question isn’t the present one, but rather Princess Augusta of Hesse-Kassel, the wife of Prince Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge. An elderly Augusta wore the brooch in a portrait commissioned by her niece, Queen Victoria, in 1877.

Princess Mary Adelaide, Duchess of Teck wears the brooch as a pendant

From Augusta, the brooch passed to her younger daughter, Princess Mary Adelaide, Duchess of Teck. The exact details of the transfer are a little sketchy; Roberts notes that she either gave the brooch to Mary Adelaide in 1885 or bequeathed it to her when she died four years later. In the formal photograph above, she wears the brooch as a pendant on a pearl necklace.

Queen Mary wears the brooch in a formal portrait (Grand Ladies Site)

The brooch’s next owner was Mary Adelaide’s daughter, Queen Mary of the United Kingdom. She wore the brooch throughout her life with both day and evening wear. Above, you’ll note the brooch pinned to the side of Mary’s bodice.

Queen Mary wears the brooch for Prince Charles’s christening, 1948 (AFP/Getty Images)

Sentimentally, Mary chose this important family heirloom brooch for two very important family occasions: the christening of her granddaughter, the present Queen, in 1926, and the christening of her great-grandson, the present Prince of Wales, in 1948.

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The Queen inherited the brooch from her grandmother in 1953, and it’s been in her jewelry box ever since. Above, she wears the brooch during a visit to Kenya in 1972.

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Four years later, in April 1976, the Queen wore the brooch for her official 50th birthday portraits, which were taken at Windsor.

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The “white” stones of the brooch also make it suitable for occasions of mourning and remembrance. In September 1979, she wore the brooch at Westminster Abbey for the funeral of Lord Mountbatten.

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And here, she wears it with the pendant hanging off the collar of her jacket during the opening of the Thames Flood Barrier in May 1984.

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The brooch has also often accompanied HM on trips abroad. In June 1992, she took the brooch with her on a visit to France.

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The simplicity of the brooch has made it a popular choice when the Queen has worn very brightly patterned dresses. Above, she wears the brooch with a black, red, and blue printed dress for a visit to a Finnish art exhibition at the Barbican in London in November 1997.

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The brooch made a prominent appearance in Australia during the Golden Jubilee tour in 2002. She wore the piece without its pendant pearl at Chateau Barrosa in Adelaide in February 2002.

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The brooch made multiple prominent appearances during the Golden Jubilee year. Here, the Queen wears it for a service to mark her Golden Jubilee at St. George’s Chapel, Windsor in June 2002.

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Ten years later, the brooch was part of her Diamond Jubilee festivities as well. Here, she wears it for a luncheon for Sovereign Monarchs at Windsor Castle in May 2012.

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You’ll spot the brooch on the Queen often, from audiences at the palace to prominent public occasions like the annual Christmas Message. (The appearance above is from Christmas 2014.) The timeless beauty of the piece, combined with its impeccable family provenance, will undoubtedly ensure that it remains a central part of the family’s jewelry collection for generations to come.

Princess Margaret’s Cartier Rose Brooch

03.31.2019 by The Court Jeweller // Leave a Comment

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One of the loveliest pieces of jewelry in Princess Margaret’s extensive collection was today’s bauble: her Cartier Rose Brooch.

Christie’s

The diamond brooch was made by Cartier London in 1938. Later auction notes describe it as a “three dimensional pavé-set rose in full bloom to the openwork leaves and stem set with baguette, single and circular-cut diamonds.”

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I don’t believe we know precisely when the brooch arrived in Margaret’s jewelry collection, but we know for sure that she owned it by 1953. That June, she famously pinned the brooch to the bodice of her gown for her sister’s coronation in Westminster Abbey.

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The brooch was an excellent accessory for the romantic fashions Margaret favored in the 1950s, though it occasionally got lost a bit in the floral patterns of her dresses — as in the above photograph, taken at Epsom in May 1955.

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The brooch stood out a bit more against the darker, fur-trimmed jacket she wore above, in London in October 1955.

Christie’s

The brooch stayed in Margaret’s collection for the rest of her life. In 2006, her children included it in the Christie’s auction of items from her estate. The brooch, in its original red Cartier box, was estimated to sell for between 15,000 and 20,000 pounds. When the hammer fell, the brooch had fetched a whopping 153,600 pounds.

Photo generously shared by Javier. DO NOT REPRODUCE.

The brooch’s most prominent public appearance since the auction came in 2018, when it was included in the landmark Cartier exhibition in Canberra. (See more from that auction over here!)

The New Zealand Silver Fern Brooch

03.24.2019 by The Court Jeweller // Leave a Comment

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Like so many people around the world, New Zealand, especially its Muslim population, has been constantly on my mind since the news of last week’s terrible shooting in Christchurch. Today, I’m dedicating our usual Sunday royal brooch post to a jewel featuring a symbol important to Kiwis: the Queen’s Silver Fern Brooch.

Communicate New Zealand/National Archives/Wikimedia Commons

The diamond and platinum brooch was presented to the Queen by Lady Allum, wife of the Mayor of Auckland, on behalf of the women of Auckland. Lady Allum gave the brooch to the Queen at Government House on Christmas Day 1953. Above, you’ll see HM wearing the brooch at St. Mary’s Cathedral in Auckland on the very day she received it. Hugh Roberts notes that the Queen was “delighted” by the gift.

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Here’s a close-up that gives a decent view of the brooch’s depth and intricacy. Roberts describes the brooch as “set with brilliants and baguettes as a frond of the silver tree fern,” which is “one of the most important and widely recognized national emblems of New Zealand.”

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The Queen, pictured above in 2006, often wears the brooch for visits to New Zealand and Kiwi-related events.

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Above, she wears the brooch as she hosts an afternoon tea for the All Blacks at Buckingham Palace in November 2002.

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In November 2006, she donned the brooch for the official dedication of the New Zealand Memorial at Hyde Park Corner in London.

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Two years later, she wore the brooch for a New Zealand tourism exhibition held near Tower Bridge in London.

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And in June 2011, she wore the brooch at Buckingham Palace as she officially appointed Sir Jerry Mateparae as an Additional Knight Grand Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit.

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In April 2014, the Queen loaned the brooch to the Duchess of Cambridge to wear during her visit to New Zealand with the Duke and Prince George. The photos of Kate wearing the brooch as she carried George off the airplane in Wellington have become iconic.

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She also wore the brooch as she participated in a hongi, a traditional Maori greeting, during a welcoming ceremony at Government House in Wellington.

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The Queen, interestingly enough, also made an appearance in the brooch on the same trip. William and Kate unveiled Nick Cuthell’s portrait of the Queen wearing the brooch at Government House in Wellington. Appropriately, Kate wore a gown with silver fern fronds embroidered on one shoulder for the reception where the portrait made its debut.