#thejewelcatalogue

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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

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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. 

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The Princess of Wales also wore a special pair of diamond and pearl earrings that belonged to the late Queen Elizabeth II. These are the Bahrain Pearl Drop Earrings, made using two round pearls that Elizabeth received as a wedding present from the Hakim of Bahrain in 1947. 

Fun Fact: Kate wore the earrings in public for the first time on Remembrance Sunday in 2016,

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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.

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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

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The Princess of Wales at the official welcoming of the Qatar State Visit, 3rd December 2024

The jewels on display were; - The Bahrain Pearl Drop Earrings More on those jewels here - Four Row Japanese Pearl Choker, which the Princess has worn on many occasions, more importantly to the funerals of Prince Philip and Queen Elizabeth II

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The Royal Collection Trust have today announced that the next exhibition at the King’s Gallery (formerly the Queen’s Gallery) at Buckingham Palace will be The Edwardians: Age of Elegance.

Promising to “explore the opulence and glamour of the Edwardian age” the exhibit will displaying over 300 objects from the Royal Collection.

One item that has already been confirmed to be in the exhibit is Queen Alexandra’s spectacular Dagmar necklace.

The Dagmar necklace was a gift from King Frederick VII to the then Princess Alexandra on the occasion of her 1863 wedding. Alexandra wore the necklace twice and it was left as an heirloom of the Crown, on the condition that it not be altered.

The necklace contains a splinter of wood that was supposedly part of the True Cross as well as a piece of silk from the grave of King Canute and is a stunning piece.

The exhibit opens 11th April 2025 and runs until 8th November 2025 and we can’t wait to see what other treasures (and hopefully jewels) are also on display!

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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 (?)

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Christmas jewels

In the run-up to Christmas, we’re going to be taking a look at some of the royal ladies’ Christmas themed jewels. Starting off with Queen Elizabeth’s Canadian Snowflake brooch.

The brooch was gifted to the late Queen by the Canadian Governor General in 2017 to mark 65 years on the throne.

The brooch contains diamonds and some stunning pale blue sapphires that give the snowflake design an icy look.

The brooch was worn a handful of times, including this appearance at Royal Ascot in 2019.

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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.

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At fellows auctions, Princess Margaret sapphire and emerald flower ring is going under the hammer on the 21st November.

The ring, a gift from Lord Glenconner, is engraved with the Princess' Royal cypher on the inside of the band.

The ring is estimated to sell between £3,200 - £4,200.

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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

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Princess Anne was spotted wearing an interesting brooch at Saturday’s Field of Remembrance event.

The brooch features a large pearl surrounded by diamonds. The Princess Royal first wore the brooch in 2023.

The brooch appears to have previously belonged to Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother who wore it as a clasp on a set of pearl necklaces for the christening of Prince Michael of Kent in 1942.

The provenance of the brooch is unknown. It is unlikely to have been part of the Greville bequest as the Queen Mother wore the set before she was left the jewels. It’s also unknown how this was passed to Princess Anne, whether this is an item considered her personal property, left to her either by the Queen Mother, or by the late Queen, or if this is property of the Crown and available for other members of the family to wear.

(Source X)

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Coronation Ring

Gold coronation ring mounted with a large, flat-cut ruby engraved with the cross of St George with foil behind, surrounded by 26 diamonds set in silver. The ring of polished gold with engraved scrollwork, with engraved shoulders and adjustable shank.

The provenance of this ring remains confused. In 1807, it was bequeathed to George IV, then Prince of Wales, by Cardinal Henry Stuart. At this date it was described in a letter, later transcribed by the Marquess of Abergavenny as 'a ruby ring surrounded by brilliants. On the ruby a cross is engraved. It was used on the coronation day of the Kings of Scotland'.

A second paper listed by Abergavenny apparently described the same ring and proclaimed that it may have been used by James I as well as James II. The ring was certainly used at the coronation of James II since it was clearly drawn among the illustrations of Sandford's publication and described as 'a plain Gold Ring, with a large Table Ruby Violet wherein a plain Cross or Cross of St George, was curiously Enchased'.

~ Royal Collection Trust