We would like to take the opportunity this morning to send our congratulations to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II on this day of celebration for her Platinum Jubilee. We are also sending our thanks for her unprecedented 70 years of dedication and service to this county.
Over her reign The Queen has worn some amazing items of jewellery, all chosen with deep thought and care into the meaning of each piece and its link to the event in question. Below are some of our favourite items
Here we can see a very personal item, known as the ‘Flower Basket Brooch’ it was a gift to the then Princess Elizabeth from her parents to celebrate the birth of her first child – Prince Charles in 1948.
It features diamonds, rubies and sapphires!
This photo shows The Queen wearing the Greville Chandelier Earrings in 2010. These earrings were created in 1929 by Cartier, before coming into the possession of the Queen Mother in 1942.
They were given to the then Princess Elizabeth as a wedding present in 1947 – however at the time she was unable to wear them as she hadn’t yet had her ears pierced!
The brooch seen here is known as the ‘Scarab Brooch’ is is one of HM Queen Elizabeth’s most often worn brooches. It was given to her as a gift by her husband Prince Phillip in 1966.
The Scarab Brooch was designed by the renowned jeweller Andrew Grima and is made from yellow gold; set with both rubies and diamonds.
The photo opposite shows her wearing it as part of the Golden Jubilee Tour in 2002.
Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II is very rarely seen without a set of pearls around her neck. Our favourite collection is the three strand set that she was given by her father King George VI on the morning of her wedding.
She actually has three sets of almost identical three-strand pearl necklaces, with the only real identifying feature being the clasps:
The first is the aforementioned wedding pearls.
The second is a set she had made up from inherited family pearls in 1952, to mark her ascension to the throne.
The third and final set was a gift from the Emir of Qatar on her Coronation, and is slightly longer than the other two sets.
Next up is a spectacular brooch – known as Cullinan V this is a heart shaped brooch that features a whopping 18.8ct Diamond as the centrepiece.
The Cullinan diamond was originally gifted to Queen Mary by the South African government in 1907 in a raw state, before being cut into nine smaller pieces. This brooch is made from the stone known as ‘Cullinan 5’ and was inherited by Queen Elizabeth II in 1953. It has gone on to be one of her most worn brooches in the decades since.
To the right we can see a young Princess Elizabeth wearing the ‘Edinburgh Wedding Bracelet’.
This bracelet was presented to the then Princess by her future husband Prince Philip upon their engagement, along with her engagement ring. Both the ring and bracelet were made by the same jeweller Philip Antrobus, and used diamonds from a tiara that had previously belonged to Philips mother Princess Alice of Battenberg. This is turn had been a royal gift from her Aunt & Uncle – her aunt and uncle – Tsar Nicholas II and Tsarina Alexandra of Russia!
Following on from the engagement bracelet we are taking a quick look at the only two rings that The Queen wears – her engagement ring, and her wedding band.
As discussed above the engagement ring was designed by Prince Philip and features diamonds taken from his mother’s Romanov Tiara, set in platinum to match the bracelet.
The wedding band is made from Welsh Gold – specifically from a single nugget extracted in 1923 from Clogau St. David’s mine in Bontddu Wales. This same nugget was used to make later royal wedding bands for Princess Margaret, Princess Anne, and Princess Diana.
Back to brooches now, and here we have a one that is worn with special significance – The Queen’s Maple Leaf Brooch.
This brooch was inherited from her mother, who wore it for the 1939 Royal Tour of Canada. The Queen regularly wears it when meeting prominent Canadians, and on state visits to Canada.
In recent years she has lent the Maple Leaf Brooch to Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge for her royal visit to Canada.
Now for what is one of the rarest seen items from Queen Elizabeth II’s collection – the Fifth Wedding Anniversary Bracelet.
As the name suggests this bracelet was a gift from Prince Philip to celebrate their fifth wedding anniversary – which coincidentally took place in 1952, the same year she ascended the throne.
Prince Philip designed the bracelet himself. Made from gold the bracelet features several highly sentimental elements: his naval badge in the center with a diamond-set anchor and gold links designed as intertwined “E” and “P” letters.
Finally we end with the brooches worn in the official portrait released to mark HM Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee.
In this portrait she can be seen wearing the pair of diamond clips known as the ‘Greville Ivy Leaf Brooches’. While seen as a pair they were actually made seven years apart – one in 1930, and the second in 1937 – both by Cartier.
These were presented to the Princess Elizabeth on her 21st birthday by her parents, while on the 1947 Royal Tour of South Africa.
What is your favourite item from the royal jewellery collection?
Let us know on Facebook or Instagram and maybe we’ll feature your choices in a future article.
If you are interested in royal memorabilia jewellery have a look at some of our previous articles to see items from our collections and stock.