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Sparkling Royal Jewels From Around the World

Gala Jewels: Mexican-British State Visits

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This week, Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh will welcome the President of Mexico to London for a state visit. The visit will include a state banquet at Buckingham Palace, so we can expect to see some significant glitter on display. In anticipation of Tuesday’s events, let’s have a look back at some of the jewels worn by HM during other state visits to and from Mexico during her reign, shall we?

1975: Wearing pearls and one of Queen Victoria’s bow brooches during a visit to Mexico

1975: Posing with Prince Philip and President Echeverría while wearing the Coronation Necklace and Earrings, plus one of Queen Victoria’s wheat ear brooches in her hair

1975: Wearing Queen Alexandra’s Kokoshnik Tiara, her antique diamond girandole earrings, diamond bracelets, and her diamond festoon necklace in Mexico

2009: Pearls and the Courtauld Thomson Scallop-Shell Brooch during the welcome ceremony for President Calderón

2009: At Buckingham Palace for the state banquet, wearing the Brazilian aquamarine parure with the Collar of the Order of the Aztec Empire and the star of the Order of the Garter


Which jewels do you hope to see Queen Elizabeth II and the other members of the royal family wearing as they welcome President Peña Nieto and First Lady Rivera to Buckingham Palace this week?

Sundays with the Queen: Elizabeth II’s Wedding Bracelet

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When Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten — or, as he was formerly known, His Royal Highness Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark — proposed to Princess Elizabeth of the United Kingdom in the 1940s, he had to find a way to present his bride with jewels appropriate for a future queen while earning a sailor’s paycheck.

Help came in the form of a diamond tiara owned by his mother, Princess Alice of Battenberg. The piece was dismantled; some of the stones were used to create Elizabeth’s engagement ring, while others were used to make the piece we’re discussing today: the diamond bracelet he offered his new wife as a wedding present.

Philip went to a London-based jewelry firm, Philip Antrobus Ltd., to create the new diamond pieces in 1947. The engagement ring claimed a three-carat brilliant, plus several smaller stones; the new bracelet also includes three large brilliant-cut diamonds. The bracelet’s design is geometric, almost Art Deco-inspired. It features three large, square links connected by vertical sections. Like the engagement ring, the bracelet is set in platinum.

From the start, Elizabeth chose the new bracelet for significant white-tie events. Several of her early portraits feature the bracelet; she also chose it for her official Diamond Jubilee portraits in 2012. The Queen’s collection includes a number of diamond bracelets of a similar shape and size to this one, including Queen Mary’s chain link bracelets and the diamond and gold bracelet that belonged to Queen Victoria.

But while those other pieces have major historical and family importance, the sentimental value of this bracelet is pretty hard to deny. It’s no wonder that it has remained a staple in the Queen’s jewelry box for nearly seventy years.

Saturday Sparkler: The Londonderry Diamond Tiara

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There are tiaras, and then there are tiaras like the Londonderry Diamond Tiara. This piece dates to the middle of the nineteenth century; it was a part of a diamond parure made for the family in 1854 by Garrard, although the tiara itself was not originally an all-diamond piece. The center of each element was originally designed to hold a pearl, and the tiara could also be worn topped by tall pear-shaped pearls, increasing the height of the piece substantially.

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Today, the diamonds at the center of each element are mounted en tremblant. The piece is almost a complete circlet, encircling nearly the entire head of the wearer. (The tiara is magnificent, but it’s not the only one the Londonderrys own — they’ve also got a famous set of amethysts, given to them by Alexander I of Russia, and a pearl necklace that can be worn as a tiara.)

In 1897, Theresa, the wife of the 6th Marquess of Londonderry, wore the tiara as a part of her costume at the famous Devonshire House Ball. Theresa went to the ball as Empress Maria Theresa of Austria, and for the occasion, she had the diamond tiara transformed into a full-on imperial crown, using necklaces and bracelets to mimic the arches and cross from Maria Theresa’s original crown — you can see the effect here.

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But although the Devonshire ball gave Theresa a chance to really give her jewel collection a workout, the most notorious anecdote involving the diamond tiara happened five years later at the coronation of King Edward VII. Theresa wore the tiara with the pear-shaped pearl toppers on the day — you can see her coronation portrait above — but the imposing size of the tiara may have been an issue. Apparently it was tough to balance, as it toppled off her head and into the toilet when she popped into the loo. It had to be removed with a pair of forceps, which I’m sure were kept at the coronation just in case anyone went into labor during the incredibly long ceremony. (Not really. But maybe!)

Theresa’s daughter-in-law, Edith, began wearing the diamond tiara after her husband inherited the Londonderry title in 1915. She wore it to the coronation of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth in 1937. Even better: the Londonderrys still own this tiara, though they’ve kindly shared the piece with all of the rest of us. Along with their amethysts, the tiara is on display in the jewelry room at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London (AKA Mecca for magpies). I saw it there in 2013, and it is breathtaking. Hope some of the rest of you get to make a similar pilgrimage!