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Elizabeth Taylor’s Bulgari Jewels on Show

07.14.2016 by The Court Jeweller // Leave a Comment

Elizabeth Taylor wears a Bulgari brooch, ca. 1959 (Photo: Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

If you’re in London this weekend, you owe it to yourself to drop in at Bulgari’s flagship in New Bond Street, where the firm is displaying several pieces of jewelry owned by the late Elizabeth Taylor.

Photo: ADRIAN DENNIS/AFP/Getty Images

Bulgari is touting the display as comprising some of Taylor’s most personal jewels. Indeed, the mini exhibition includes a diamond and emerald engagement given to her by Richard Burton. Also on display: the diamond and emerald necklace given to Taylor by Burton as a wedding present. She often wore it with a diamond and emerald pendant stone, which had also been presented to her by Burton.

Photo: Michael Buckner/Getty Images for Bulgari

The elaborate diamond and sugar-loaf sapphire necklace given by Burton to Taylor as a 40th birthday present is also included in the presentation. It’s accompanied by a sugar-loaf sapphire ring purchased by Taylor herself to coordinate with the necklace.

Photo: Rob Stothard/Getty Images

And there’s even a gift from another of Taylor’s husbands: the diamond and emerald floral brooch from Eddie Fisher.

Taylor wears the Bulgari emerald necklace, ca. 1967 (Photo: Larry Ellis/Express/Getty Images)

An article in the Telegraph offers more photos of the jewels, plus commentary from the display’s curator, Lucia Boscaini. If you want to see the jewels in person, however, you’d better hurry — the exhibition ends on Saturday!

The Processional Jewels

07.14.2016 by The Court Jeweller // Leave a Comment

Crown Princess Victoria wears the Processional Jewels (Photo: Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images)

Happy Victoriadagen, everyone! Today is Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden’s birthday, and to celebrate, we’re looking at one of my favorite pieces of Swedish royal jewelry: a necklace that the family calls the “Processional Jewels.”

Princess Madeleine wears the necklace (Photo: Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images)

In Swedish, this necklace’s precise name is intågssmycket, or “processional jewelry.” The piece’s unusual name is linked to its original purpose: it was a gift for a brand new Swedish crown princess, to celebrate her arrival in her new country. Close-ups of the necklace (see below) show that the piece includes little knotted ribbons of diamonds, almost like festoons. How appropriate is that for a jewel celebrating an arrival?

Close-up of the necklace (Photo: Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images)

The recipient of this astonishing necklace, which is made of gold, diamonds, pearls, and pale blue Ceylon sapphires, was Victoria of Baden. She was the daughter of Friedrich I, the Grand Duke of Baden, and Princess Louise of Prussia (who was a sister-in-law of Princess Vicky, the eldest child of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert).

Close-up of the necklace (Photo: Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images)

But although she was a thoroughly German princess, Victoria of Baden also had Swedish roots. Her paternal grandmother was born Princess Sophie of Sweden, a daughter of King Gustaf IV Adolf of Sweden. When Victoria married Crown Prince Gustaf of Sweden in 1881, the Swedish people were thrilled about her links to the old Swedish royal dynasty, proclaiming her “the Vasa princess.”

Queen Silvia wears the necklace (Photo: Lex Lieshout/AFP/Getty Images)

Sweden’s newest princess needed a special piece of jewelry to welcome her into her new home country. After Gustaf and Victoria were married in Germany, she was given the intågssmycket to wear on her procession into Stockholm. Since then, the necklace has been an important part of the Bernadotte jewel collection. It’s been worn by both of the subsequent queens of Sweden, Louise and Silvia.

Crown Princess Madeleine wears the necklace (Photo: Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images)

But the necklace isn’t just reserved for queens. The piece has also been worn by other Swedish princesses, including Princess Christina, Princess Lilian, and Princess Madeleine, who memorably donned the necklace at her sister’s wedding in 2010, pairing it with the Connaught Diamond Tiara.

Crown Princess Victoria wears the necklace (Photo: Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images)

Crown Princess Victoria has also worn her namesake’s necklace. In one of her most memorable appearances in the necklace, Victoria paired it with another of Victoria of Baden’s jewels, the Baden Fringe Tiara, at the Nobel Prize ceremony in 2005.

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

What are your favorite pieces of jewelry from the Bernadotte collection?

A Busy, Bejeweled Day for Queen Elizabeth

07.13.2016 by The Court Jeweller // Leave a Comment

The Duke of Edinburgh, the Queen, and the Duke of Cambridge at the EAAA base (Photo: Chris Jackson/Getty Images)

It’s a big day for Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom — she met her thirteenth prime minister at Buckingham Palace. But before venturing back to London to handle that bit of government business, she and the Duke of Edinburgh toured the new East Anglia Air Ambulance base at Cambridge Airport. A special employee — their grandson, the Duke of Cambridge — was on hand to show them around.

Photo: Chris Jackson/Getty Images

The Queen wore pale pink for the occasion, including her diamond and pink gemstone cluster brooch.

Photo: NIKLAS HALLE’N/AFP/Getty Images

Here’s a slightly better look at the brooch. To my knowledge, the precise provenance of this one has still not been firmly determined, and neither has the identity of the pink gemstone set in the brooch’s center. But it’s almost certainly an heirloom piece, and it’s definitely lovely.

Photo: Dominic Lipinski – WPA Pool/Getty Images

Back in London, it was time to get the show on the road. The Queen welcomed the new prime minister, Theresa May, while wearing a major heirloom brooch: the Cambridge Emerald Brooch with its pear-shaped emerald pendant drop.

Photo: Dominic Lipinski – WPA Pool/Getty Images

And that was that!