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The Sunday Ring: The Duchess of Cornwall’s Engagement Ring

09.25.2016 by The Court Jeweller // Leave a Comment

The Duchess of Cornwall’s engagement ring (Photo: Chris Jackson/Getty Images)

Our Sunday series on royal rings continues today with a look at a truly classic rock: the ring that the Prince of Wales gave to the Duchess of Cornwall on their engagement.

Photo: JOHN STILLWELL/AFP/Getty Images

Prince Charles proposed to Camilla in 2005 using a family heirloom: a diamond ring that had belonged to his beloved grandmother, the Queen Mum. The diamond and platinum ring is made in the Art Deco style, with a large central diamond flanked on either side by three diamond baguettes.

Photo: Eddie Mulholland/WPA Pool/Getty Images

The ring was not the Queen Mother’s own engagement ring. Its exact provenance remains unclear, but some have said that it was a gift to her from George VI to mark the birth of their elder daughter, Queen Elizabeth II, in 1926. The Queen would have inherited the ring from her mother in 2002, along with the rest of her jewelry, as a way to circumvent a crippling tax bill. However, it seems that certain pieces of jewelry were earmarked to be given to Prince Charles — pieces that are worn today by the Duchess of Cornwall.

Photo: JOHN STILLWELL/AFP/Getty Images

Camilla made her public debut in the ring on February 10, 2005, just after the news of their engagement was broken. She’s been wearing the piece regularly ever since, even though its size means that it often slides around her finger.

Photo: Chris Jackson/Getty Images

Here’s a side view of the ring, where you get a decent idea of the size of the stone and the band. Today, Camilla pairs it with her Welsh gold wedding ring.

Royal Tour of Canada: Arrival in Victoria

09.25.2016 by The Court Jeweller // Leave a Comment

The Cambridges arrive in Canada (Photo: Chris Jackson/Getty Images)

And so it begins! The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, with Prince George and Princess Charlotte, have arrived in British Columbia to embark on a tour of Canada. We’ll be following all of Kate’s jewelry here during the tour, and we’ve got a great couple of pieces to kick things off.

Photo: Chris Jackson/Getty Images

Kate chose her diamond and tanzanite earrings from Collins and Sons for the arrival. The vivid blue of the tanzanites pairs perfectly with her royal blue dress and hat (which, naturally, is festooned with maple leaves).

Photos: JUSTIN TALLIS/AFP/Getty Images

Here’s a close look at the earrings, plus the coordinating necklace from the suite. You can read our extensive post on the set over here.

Photo: Chris Jackson/Getty Images

For the second time, the Queen has loaned Kate a piece of jewelry with a very Canadian connection: the Diamond Maple Leaf Brooch that belonged to the Queen Mother. Made by Asprey, the brooch was a gift to the Queen Mum from her husband, King George VI, in 1939. The gift was in commemoration of their 1939 tour of Canada; the Queen Mum wore it for the first time during their Atlantic crossing.

Photo: AFP/Getty Images

Above, the Queen Mum wears the brooch in April 1940, shortly after the outbreak of World War II, during a visit to an ammunition factory. She kept and wore the brooch throughout her lifetime, and it was inherited by the Queen in 2002. Since then, the Queen has loaned the piece to both the Duchess of Cornwall and the Duchess of Cambridge.

Photo: GEOFF ROBINS/AFP/Getty Images

Kate wore the brooch multiple times during the Cambridges’ last tour of Canada, which took place shortly after their wedding in the summer of 2011. Above, she wears the brooch (and another maple-leaf themed hat) in Ottawa on Canada Day. You can read more about the Maple Leaf Brooch in our post here.

Photo: Chris Jackson/Getty Images

In one of my favorite images from the airport arrival, Princess Charlotte reached out to grasp her great-great-grandmother’s brooch.

Photo: Chris Jackson/Getty Images

At the official welcome ceremony in Victoria, Kate wore the same outfit and jewelry. Her wedding and engagement rings were also visible.

Photos: Chris Jackson/Getty Images

Here’s a closer look at both major jewelry pieces from today’s arrival. I give the entire look a thumbs-up — how about you?

The Mellerio Ruby Parure Tiara

09.24.2016 by The Court Jeweller // Leave a Comment

The Mellerio Ruby Parure Tiara (Photo: Andreas Rentz/Getty Images)

The Dutch tiara collection is so large that it includes not one but two major ruby tiaras. Today we’re going to look at the bigger of the two: the grand ruby tiara made for the family by Mellerio.

Photo: Andreas Rentz/Getty Images

Mellerio dits Meller is a major French jewelry firm with a seriously glittering history. They’ve been making pieces for centuries, and this tiara is only one of several Mellerio tiaras in royal collections today. The Dutch ruby tiara was made by the company for Queen Emma around 1888 as a part of a larger ruby parure. The pieces were a gift from Emma’s husband, King Willem III. (The parure even includes a ruby-encrusted fan. How Victorian!)

Photo: Keystone/Hulton Archive/Getty Images

All four of the Dutch queens since Emma have worn the tiara and at least parts of the rest of the parure; the piece has also been worn by many Dutch princesses. Queen Juliana reportedly loved this parure, so much so that she even chose the brooch to wear on the day she was inaugurated as queen. Above, Juliana wears the tiara and the accompanying pieces of the parure in 1976.

Photo: Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images

The piece has a very classic tiara shape, with rows of diamonds suspended between the larger elements; that shape fits well with both Princess Beatrix’s retro bouffant and Queen Máxima’s sleeker hairstyles. Above, Beatrix wears the tiara at the wedding of Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden in 2010.

Photo: JONATHAN NACKSTRAND/AFP/Getty Images

Máxima even chose the tiara for her first official portrait as queen. She’s reached for it more than once for glittering occasions over the past several years; her appearance in the tiara at the wedding of Prince Carl Philip of Sweden in 2015 (pictured above) was hailed as an especially major bejeweled triumph. And since it’s a part of the family’s jewel foundation, it will sit atop various Dutch royal hairstyles for years to come.

Note: This is an updated version of an earlier post, with new text and images.