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| AFP/Getty Images |
Princess Grace of Monaco wears a suite of ruby and gold jewelry, including a tiara, loaned to her by Van Cleef and Arpels for a gala supporting the renovation of the Palace of Versailles, November 1973
British Visit to the Middle East: Dinner in Oman
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| Charles and Camilla in Oman (Photo: Arthur Edwards – Pool/Getty Images) |
The Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall are currently in Oman, on the first day of a multi-country tour of the Middle East. We’ll cover the daytime events from today on Monday, but the jewelry from tonight was just too good to make you wait!
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| Photo: Arthur Edwards – Pool/Getty Images |
Camilla dipped into her collection of Van Cleef and Arpels jewelry for an official dinner in Muscat, choosing her Magic Alhambra diamond earrings from the jeweler. But the earrings aren’t the story for me…
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| Photo: Arthur Edwards – Pool/Getty Images |
…it’s THIS. Check out this enormous, diamond-encrusted cuff bracelet! Please correct me if I’m wrong, but I don’t recall Camilla wearing this piece in public before. It’s not her usual style — though I think she wears it quite well — so I’m speculating that it may have been a gift from their host. So wonderful!
Update: The bracelet, while still exciting, is not new — Camilla previously wore it during a visit to Saudi Arabia. Still thinking it’s probably a Middle Eastern gift!
Princess Charlene’s Ocean Tiara on Display
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| Photo used with the kind permission of reader Suzanne. |
If you are in Singapore or will be visiting over the next few months, here’s a heads up: Princess Charlene’s Ocean Tiara is on display! Lovely reader Suzanne e-mailed me with details about the exhibition, “Van Cleef and Arpels: The Art and Science of Gems,” where the tiara is being displayed. Here’s a link to the official website of the exhibition for more; it runs until August 14.
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| Photo used with the kind permission of reader Suzanne. |
I’ll let Suzanne’s comments about the exhibition speak for themselves: “I was in Singapore for a few days last week and knew of the Van Cleef and Arpels exhibition at the Art and Science Museum; so naturally I would go and see that, but many of the major pieces on display were not in publicity blurbs. So, surprise and delight to see [the Ocean Tiara] (in the last room) along with Princess Grace’s tiara and other jewellery of hers … The modern cut of the diamonds in the Ocean
Tiara make it very very bright by comparison to the softer older cuts, and it looks a little more delicate than I would have thought.”
Suzanne adds: “There is also some jewellery belonging to Elizabeth Taylor and former Egyptian royalty. 450 pieces of jewellery on display … such a pity I could not take one home.”
Thank you so much, Suzanne, for letting me share your experience! Both of the photographs in this post, including that incredible close-up of the tiara, were taken by Suzanne, and I’m incredibly grateful that she also let me share them here with all of you.