united states – Page 22

State Visit Jewels: UK-US Welcome Ceremony

06.03.2019 by The Court Jeweller // Leave a Comment

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As the American President and First Lady arrived on Monday for the start of a state visit to Britain, the Queen and the royals hosted a series of welcome ceremonies for the couple. Here’s a look at the jewels worn by the royal ladies during these events.

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The Queen chose a classic heirloom brooch for the official arrival of her guests: the Cambridge Emerald Cluster Brooch, with its glossy emerald pendant drop. (Learn more about the brooch here!)

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For the arrival ceremonies, the Duchess of Cornwall wore pearl earrings with one of her signature pearl choker necklaces. This necklace features a large, shield-shaped diamond clasp.

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Camila also wore several bracelets on her left wrist, including a distinctive silver-toned bangle.

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Inside the palace, the Queen sported another brooch — the delicate Cullinan VI and VIII Brooch — for the usual viewing of relevant items from the Royal Collection. (More on the brooch here!)

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The Duchess of Gloucester was also present to enjoy the Royal Collection display. It’s tough to see, but it looks like she wore jewels from her collection of sapphire pieces.

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Camilla changed into a second ensemble to host the presidential couple for tea at Clarence House. She wore another of her pearl choker necklaces (this time with the round diamond clasp). She’ll change again shortly for the banquet at Buckingham Palace, and we’ll have a post featuring the royal jewels from that event up later this evening.

Please note: As always, this website is not a place for discussion of contemporary American politics. Please respect my wishes and restrict your comments only to the jewels pictured in this post. Thank you for your cooperation.

The Queen’s American State Visit Tiaras

06.03.2019 by The Court Jeweller // Leave a Comment

Ricardo Thomas/Ford Presidential Library/NARA/Wikimedia Commons

Today, the Queen welcomes the American President and First Lady for the eighth formal British-US state visit of her lengthy reign. Ahead of this evening’s state banquet, here’s a look at the tiaras she has worn for state dinners over the years.

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In October 1957, the Queen made her first state visit to the United States. (She’d visited previously, including significant visits during her father’s reign, but this was the first official state visit of her own reign.) Dwight and Mamie Eisenhower hosted a state dinner at the White House in her honor on October 17. For the dinner, the Queen wore the Girls of Great Britain and Ireland Tiara with an unusual combination of jewels, including the Gloucester Pendant Earrings and Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee Necklace. The Associated Press reported that Elizabeth wore Queen Alexandra’s Kokoshnik for the occasion, which makes me wonder if there was a last-minute jewel switch, after the palace had already provided notes to the press. (Alexandra’s tiara was indeed in her luggage — she wore it in Canada during an earlier leg of the same overseas trip.)

NARA/Wikimedia Commons

The Queen really did wear Queen Alexandra’s Kokoshnik at the next US-UK state dinner, which took place in July 1976 in Washington. Gerald and Betty Ford hosted the Queen for dinner at the White House on July 7, and she wore the tiara with the Greville Chandelier Earrings and her own Diamond Festoon Necklace. (This visit was coordinated with the celebration of the US Bicentennial, and the Queen gave Betty Ford a fascinating brooch to mark the occasion. Learn more about it here!)

Department of Defense/Wikimedia Commons

In 1983, the Queen made a state visit to another part of the US: California. Ronald and Nancy Reagan hosted a state dinner for her on March 3 at the de Young Museum in San Francisco. For the occasion, the Queen wore the pearl setting of the Vladimir Tiara, as well as two jewels she’d worn in America previously: the Gloucester Pendant Earrings and Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee Necklace.

Bush Presidential Library/NARA/Wikimedia Commons

Almost a decade later, in 1991, the Queen made her way back to Washington for a state visit. George H.W. and Barbara Bush hosted a state dinner for her on May 14 at the White House. For the occasion, the Queen selected a sentimental set of jewelry: the King George VI Sapphire Suite. She paired the set with the Belgian Sapphire Tiara.

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The Queen hosted an American president in London for an official state visit for the first time in November 2003. A state banquet was given at Buckingham Palace in honor of George W. and Laura Bush on November 19. The Queen wore Queen Alexandra’s Kokoshnik with Queen Mary’s Diamond Drop Earrings, her Modern Diamond Fringe Necklace, and her Diamond Wedding Gift Bracelet.

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The Queen’s most recent state visit to the United States happened in May 2007. On May 7, she was feted at a state dinner at the White House, hosted by George W. and Laura Bush. She wore the Girls of Great Britain and Ireland Tiara with Queen Mary’s Diamond Drop Earrings, her own Diamond Festoon Necklace, and Queen Mary’s Lover’s Knot Brooch for the dinner.

AFP/Getty Images

The most recent UK-US state visit happened in May 2011, when Barack and Michelle Obama traveled to London. She hosted a state banquet in their honor at Buckingham Palace on May 24. She wore the pearl setting of the Vladimir Tiara with Queen Victoria’s Pearl Drop Earrings and Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee Necklace for the occasion, as well as her Pearl Evening Watch and Queen Mary’s Five-Stranded Pearl Bracelet. You’ll also spot an important brooch securing her sash: the Teck Emperor of Austria Brooch.

Please note: As always, this website is not a place for discussion of contemporary American politics. Please respect my wishes and restrict your comments to the jewels pictured in this post.

Elizabeth Taylor’s Emerald Floral Brooch

05.26.2019 by The Court Jeweller // Leave a Comment

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Today we’ve got a brooch that combines all the best things about May — flowers and emeralds! Here’s a look at the emerald floral brooch that belonged to one of the greatest Hollywood jewelry collectors, Dame Elizabeth Taylor.

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The brooch was made in 1960 by Bulgari. When it was sold in 2011, the auction lot notes described it as “mounted en tremblant, designed as a spray of variously-shaped diamond flower blossoms set with oval-cut emerald pistils and petals, extending baguette-cut diamond stems, mounted in platinum.”

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The brooch was part of Elizabeth’s parure of diamond and emerald jewels from Bulgari, a married set that evolved over several years. The brooch was given to Elizabeth by her fourth husband, Eddie Fisher, probably in 1961, shortly after the production of Cleopatra moved from England to Italy.

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Here, Elizabeth wears the brooch (as well as a pair of diamond and emerald earrings, also made by Bulgari) for a party at the Imperial Room of the Grand Hotel in Rome in October 1961. Eddie and Elizabeth threw the party to mark the first anniversary of the release of the film Spartacus, and the glittering partygoers also included Kirk Douglas (star and producer of the film) and his wife Anne, Jack Lemmon, Robert Wagner, Gina Lollobrigida, Charlton Heston, Edward G. Robinson, Dorothy Malone, Anthony Quinn — and, of course, Richard Burton.

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By 1962, Elizabeth embarked on her famous affair with Burton, one that would lead to a pair of marriages and several films. He also became the purchaser of the rest of her Bulgari emerald suite, including the diamond and emerald bracelet she wears in the image above. The photograph was taken in January 1962, when she finally received the David di Donatello Award that she’d won in 1961 as best foreign actress for the film Suddenly Last Summer.

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Elizabeth and Eddie officially divorced in 1964, and she married Burton nine days later. But Elizabeth didn’t believe in putting away jewelry just because it was a gift from a former spouse, and she continued to wear the floral brooch with the rest of her emeralds, including the grand necklace and brooch/pendant later provided by Burton. In ’60s fashion, Elizabeth often wore the floral brooch in her hair. In this image, you’ll see it nestled in her curls during a UNICEF gala at the Palais de Chaillot in Paris in December 1967.

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Elizabeth kept the brooch until her death in March 2011. The brooch was sold, along with numerous other pieces from her jewelry collection, in a landmark auction at Christie’s in New York in December 2011. The brooch was estimate to sell for between $200,000 and $300,000 — but it smashed that estimate, fetching a whopping $1.5 million. Since its sale, the brooch has been displayed a few times, including a 2014 exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, and a showing at the Bulgari flagship store in New Bond Street in London in 2016.