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Sparkling Royal Jewels From Around the World

The Top Ten: Royal Diamond Bracelets

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One more big category in our April celebration of all-diamond royal jewelry: bracelets! Assess my top ten picks below, and then add your own list in the comments. (And, if you missed any of our previous top ten lists, head over to read all about my ten favorite tiaras, necklaces, brooches, and earrings!)

10. Queen Mathilde’s Diamond Floral Bracelet

Queen Mathilde often wears a distinctive diamond bracelet with a floral pattern. It’s been her choice for some important occasions, notably her husband’s inauguration as king in 2013. Even better: by adding a bit of length, it can also be worn as a necklace.

9. The Duchess of Cambridge’s Diamond Bracelet

This versatile diamond bracelet features baguettes alternating with floral cluster motifs; its design is a close match to a pair of diamond earrings that also reside in Kate’s jewelry box. Royal watchers first spotted it on Kate’s wrist at a BAFTA event in 2011.

8. Queen Letizia’s Cartier Bracelet

The Queen of Spain often wears a cuff bracelet featuring parallel rows of diamonds in a geometric pattern. The bauble is by Cartier; she frequently dons it with her gala jewels, including at a recent outing in Denmark to celebrate Queen Margrethe’s 75th birthday.

7. The Dutch Diamond Trellis Bracelet

Queen Maxima often wears an intricate diamond bracelet with a fishnet-like scattering of diamonds. It’s from the collection of Queen Wilhelmina, probably dating from around the turn of the twentieth century. The bracelet is on Maxima’s right wrist in the photograph above.

6. Queen Mary’s Chain Link Bracelets

Queen Elizabeth II’s jewel collection includes a nearly-identical pair of link-style bracelets inherited from her grandmother, Queen Mary. The bracelets were made by Garrard in the 1930s and can be linked together and worn as a choker. The Queen wears one of the bracelets on her right wrist in the photograph above.

5.  The Joyas de Pasar Bracelets

In her will, Queen Ena of Spain designated a cache of her jewelry, including this glittering pair of diamond bracelets, to be worn by future Spanish queens. Most recently worn by Queen Sofia, these bracelets are now at the disposal of Queen Letizia, who has yet to wear any of the joyas de pasar.

4. Queen Elizabeth II’s Wedding Bracelet

One of Prince Philip’s wedding presents to Queen Elizabeth II in 1947, this bracelet was made by Philip Antrobus in London using diamonds from a tiara that belonged to Philip’s mother, Princess Alice. (Read more about the bracelet here!)

3. The Dutch East Indies Bracelets

The Dutch royal vaults contain a pair of bracelets made using parts of a larger bracelet: the platinum and diamond bracelet given to Queen Juliana by the people of the East Indies as a wedding present in 1937. The large bracelet was dismantled in the 1990s and made into two separate bracelets. Queen Maxima wears one of the bracelets on her left wrist in the photograph above.

2. Queen Victoria’s Diamond Bracelet

One of the heirlooms of the crown, Queen Victoria wore this diamond bracelet in her famous Diamond Jubilee portrait. It was made for her in 1838, the year of her coronation. Today, it’s worn by Queen Elizabeth II. You can see it on her right wrist in the photograph above.

1. The Bernadotte Diamond Bracelet

This gorgeous diamond bracelet with a zig-zag motif has been worn by various ladies from the royal family of Sweden, including Queen Silvia, Princess Lilian, and Crown Princess Victoria. Victoria wore it for her engagement portraits, and Princess Madeleine selected it to wear on her wedding day in 2013.

Sundays with the Queen: The Palm Leaf Brooch

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At yesterday’s services commemorating the sacrifices made by the ANZAC soldiers and other allied troops a hundred years ago in Gallipoli, the Queen wore a brooch that belonged to her mother: the Palm Leaf Brooch.

The Queen has been regularly wearing jewels from the Queen Mum’s collection at events remembering those who fought and died in the two World Wars, both of which were seminal events in Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon’s life.

The Queen Mother commissioned Cartier to make the Palm Leaf brooch for her in 1938. The jewelers used loose diamonds that were already in her collection to construct the piece, which jewel lovers have noted also shares a major resemblance to paisley motifs. Above, the Queen Mum wears the brooch during a visit to Hull in 1941.

The Queen Mum wore the brooch throughout her lifetime, donning it in the famous photograph taken of her with her daughter and mother-in-law after George VI’s death…

…as well as in images taken of her toward the end of her century-long life.

The Queen inherited the brooch from her mother in 2002, and in recent years, it’s become one of her more frequently-worn pieces.

This Week in Royal Jewels: April 17-23

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April 17-23, 2015
After last week’s glittering extravaganza in Denmark, things were a bit quieter on the jewel front this week, but there’s still plenty of sparkle to marvel at. Be sure to vote for your favorites in the poll!
10. Queen Letizia of Spain debuted a new bob haircut this week, using it to show off new pearl earrings — possibly from Tous? — at a luncheon for the Cervantes Awards honorees on Tuesday.

9. On Friday, Queen Maxima of the Netherlands headed to the United States, where she wore glittering diamond hoop earrings at a meeting of the world’s major financial institutions in Washington, D.C.

8.  After showing off a new brooch on Saturday, Queen Elizabeth II returned to more familiar territory on Sunday, wearing the badge of the Calgary Highlanders during a visit to Canada House in London.

7. Princess Alexandra, the Hon. Lady Ogilvy also attended the reception at Canada House on Sunday, wearing a familiar pearl choker, pearl and diamond earrings, and the badge of the Canadian Scottish Regiment (Princess Mary’s), of which she is Colonel-in-Chief.

6. Queen Mathilde of the Belgians wore pearl and diamond stud earrings to visit the European Union in Strasbourg on Tuesday.

5. Queen Letizia wore her earrings with red stones at the Cervantes Awards on Thursday; she also pinned her newly-cut hair back into an updo, courtesy a bit of hairdresser magic:

Fairly good blending, no?

4. Crown Princess Mary of Denmark wore an intriguing pair of earrings — possibly pearls? — on Tuesday for a visit to the Maternity Foundation.

3. Queen Letizia made one more bejeweled appearance this week, and it was a big one: she wore a stunning set of modern earrings and a coordinating bracelet at an awards ceremony on Tuesday.

2. A rare “bejeweled” appearance from a male royal this week! Queen Elizabeth II invested her husband, the Duke of Edinburgh, with the Order of Australia.

Philip’s new insignia is made of gold and also features citrines. So shiny!

1. My top vote of the week goes to Queen Sonja of Norway, who attended the American-Scandinavian Foundation Gala in  . She wore a multi-stranded pearl choker necklace, pearl and diamond earrings, and the pearl and diamond brooch that belonged to Queen Maud.