#thejewelcatalogue

[the-jewel-catalogue]

Princess Anne attending a gala dinner in aid of Eric Liddell 100

The Princess Royal looks to be wearing the Empress Maria Feodorovna’s sapphire brooch, however it has never been confirmed to be the jewel.

The brooch dates to 1866. It was purchased by Queen Alexandra (then the Princess of Wales) as a wedding gift for her sister, Princess Dagmar, who later became Empress Marie Feodorovna of Russia. The brooch features a double diamond and cabochon sapphire cluster with a pearl drop pendant. After the empress’s death in 1928, her daughters sold the brooch to Queen Mary, who later bequeathed it to Queen Elizabeth II. 

~~~~~~~~~~~ From the Court Jeweller ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

There are two things that now hold me back from definitively saying that Anne is indeed wearing the Marie Feodorovna brooch on those two occasions. The first is just visual: there’s something that almost looks flatter about the sapphire cluster portion of Anne’s brooch. That could easily be explained away by photography, and a closer view might offer clarification.

The second, though, is the fact that the late Queen herself wore the Marie Feodorovna brooch shortly after Anne’s appearance at the Team GB Ball, for an audience with the Sultan of Oman in December 2021 (pictured above). That doesn’t exclude the possibility that Anne borrowed the brooch, returned it to her mother, and then borrowed/inherited it again later. It’s just not how we normally saw the Queen’s jewels being handled.

The Princess last wore it in 2022 on a trip to Uganda.

[the-jewel-catalogue]

Lost Boucheron Royal Treasure

On June 31, 1937, Prince George, Duke of Kent, went on a shopping spree at Boucheron, 180 New Bond Street, just a few doors away from Cartier's. It is a little-known fact that the late Duke of Kent was an avid buyer of fabulous modern jewellery and may have been in competition with his brother, the soon-to-be Duke of Windsor.

One of Prince George's purchases was a pair of aquamarine and diamond clips that came into the late Queen Elizabeth's possession in 1944. However, cartierarchivist has unearthed a possible, hidden, and disappeared magnificent Boucheron diamond ruby bracelet of similar design and year of making that is more than likely to have been bought by the Duke at the same time as Queen Elizabeth's aquamarine and diamond clips shown here in her last official portrait.

Speculation: This bracelet may still be lying in the British Royal Family's vaults, but I'm leaning towards it not being ..probably.

[the-jewel-catalogue]

Queen Victoria’s Small Diamond Crown 

Following the death of her husband Albert in 1861, Queen Victoria went into mourning. In 1870, she commissioned Garrard to create a miniature Imperial State Crown that was small enough to be worn above her widow’s cap. Visitors to the Tower of London can see it on display in the Jewel House. 

[the-jewel-catalogue]

Over the past few months, we’ve spotted Kate wearing a new eternity-style ring, featuring alternating diamonds and colored gemstones, in place of her engagement ring. A close-up of her hands from Thursday’s engagement showed her wearing four rings: two diamond eternity bands, the new eternity ring with colored gems, and her Welsh gold wedding ring.

~ The Court Jeweller

[the-jewel-catalogue]

The Chequers Ring is one of the few surviving pieces of jewellery worn by Queen Elizabeth I of England.

The mother-of-pearl ring, set with gold and rubies, includes a locket with two portraits, one depicting Elizabeth and the other traditionally identified as Elizabeth's mother Anne Boleyn, but possibly her step-mother Catherine Parr. 

The ring is presently housed at Chequers, the country house of the prime minister of the United Kingdom.

According to legend, Robert Carey, Elizabeth I's maternal relative, took the ring from her finger when she died at Richmond Palace in 1603, and took it to James I in Scotland as a token of her death. Her jewellery collection was soon dispersed by the new king and queen, James I and Anne of Denmark.

[the-jewel-catalogue]

The Duchess of Teck's Pearl and Diamond Brooch

When Queen Mary’s brother Prince Frank died in 1910, they had just repaired a decade long rift, during which he altered his will to reflect his feelings towards his sister.

James Pope-Hennessy said around this time (when his sister has just recently become Princess of Wales) Prince Frank was alienated from her due to her disapproval of his mistress Nellie, Countess of Kilmorey as well as her attempts to help him “with money and good advice.” He says Frank found, “the burden of gratitude too heavy to bear.”

Frank’s will states, “The jewel given me by my godfather Francis Joseph Emperor of Austria I leave to Eleanor Constance, Countess of Kilmorey with the caveat that she will leave it to H.R.H. The Princess Victoria of Great Britain and Ireland daughter of His Majesty King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra.”

Queen Mary was horrified by the contents of the will and in 1910 paid the Countess £10,000 for the Cambridge emeralds to be returned to her. But this jewel was not included in that purchase. The Countess died in 1920 and the brooch presumably went to Princess Victoria. The brooch was later either given to or left to Queen Mary by Princess Victoria (who died in 1935) and was later photographed in her photographic jewel inventory. She left it to Queen Elizabeth II in 1953. The brooch has now presumably been left to King Charles.

~ British Royal Jewels IG

[the-jewel-catalogue]

The Duchess of Edinburgh wears the Lotus Flower Tiara with the earrings and necklace from the late Queen's Pear-Shaped Diamond Drop Suite.

Edit: HRH is wearing the King Fahd Diamond Necklace, which was a gift to Queen Elizabeth in 1979 (?)

[the-jewel-catalogue]

[the-jewel-catalogue]

This gold ring is the engagement ring given by Prince Francis of Teck to Princess Mary Adelaide, parents of Queen Mary. The ring is set with five Burmese rubies and twelve diamonds. The inside is inscribed with “Franz, April 6, 1866.”

The ring is now part of The Royal Collection.

[the-jewel-catalogue]

The Crown of Scotland

The Crown was made in 1540 using materials from an even older crown. It has been used in Scottish coronations since the 16th century, when it was worn by King James V during the coronation of his second wife, Marie de Guise.

[the-jewel-catalogue]

The Sovereign's Ring

The ring is composed of a mixed-cut octagonal sapphire in a gold setting overlaid with four rectangular-cut and one square-cut rubies, butted together in a gold strip setting to form a cross, with a border of fourteen cushion-shaped diamonds and a diamond on each shoulder, with a gold hoop.

This ring was made for the coronation of William IV in 1831. Like all coronation rings until the twentieth century, each monarch had a newly-made ring which was not kept with the regalia but with the personal jewellery of the sovereign. 

William IV left this coronation ring to his widow, Queen Adelaide, who in turn bequeathed it to Queen Victoria, together with her consort's ring. Queen Victoria left both of these, and her own coronation ring to the Crown in 1901, and all three were deposited in the Tower of London

~ Royal Collection Trust

[the-jewel-catalogue]

Cecil Beaton was one of the Queen’s favourite photographers, and he took many portraits of her from 1939 to 1970.

This striking photograph was taken in 1948, and marked a return to his pre-war, distinctly glamourous style. Beaton used backdrops inspired by 18th-century paintings as a device to link the modern Royal Family to their ancestors.

This image is on display in our exhibition at The King's Gallery, London.

[the-jewel-catalogue]

According to the Daily Mail, these floral earrings with colorful gems were a 19th birthday present from the then-Princess's parents, King George VI and the Queen Mother, and belonged in her private collection.

The late monarch rarely wore them out in public, but she did wear it for a portrait with a young King Charles in 1949.

[the-jewel-catalogue]

Royal Visit of Australia || Arrival

Queen Camilla arrives in Australia for the royal visit, wearing the Australian Wattle Brooch.

The brooch is designed to represent the national flower of Australia, and appropriately, it was made by an Australian firm, William Drummond. The jewel is made of platinum and set with white and yellow diamonds.

The piece was commissioned specifically as a gift for the new monarch, who received it in February 1954 during her Commonwealth tour.

[the-jewel-catalogue]

[the-jewel-catalogue]

The Baring Ruby Necklace

It is thought that the three central pendants - each a flat-cut ruby surrounded by brilliants - were originally used as a pair of earrings and a pendant before they were turned into pendants on this necklace of ruby and diamond clusters separated by single diamonds.