The Queen’s Aquamarine Brooches

The Queen’s jewelry collection includes several classic examples of brooches set with aquamarines. Here’s a closer look…

The Aquamarine Clip Brooches

King George VI and Queen Elizabeth gave these classic diamond and aquamarine clip brooches to Princess Elizabeth on her eighteenth birthday in 1944. She’s loved and worn the brooches for more than seven decades, making them a regular part of her brooch rotation. Above, she wears the clips for a reception to celebrate the Women’s Royal Naval Service 100 Project at the Army and Navy Club in London in October 2017.

The Queen Mother’s Curved Aquamarine Clip Brooches

The Queen Mother also owned a set of small aquamarine and diamond clips with curling ends. The Queen inherited them from her mother in 2002, but she didn’t wear them in public until November 2016. On that occasion, she wore them for a reception for the Royal Life Saving Society at Buckingham Palace.

The Modern Aquamarine Cluster Brooch

This small diamond and aquamarine cluster brooch looks distinctively modern in design, though we don’t know much about the provenance of the piece. The Queen debuted it at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Malta in 2015. Above, she wears it to present the Queen’s Gold Medal for Poetry to poet laureate Simon Armitage in May 2019.

The Diamond and Aquamarine Bar Brooch

Another mystery aquamarine brooch from the Queen’s collection is this small diamond and aqua bar brooch. The piece looks like it may date to the 1920s or 1930s, but we don’t have any confirmation of that. In October 2019, the Queen wore the brooch for private audiences at Buckingham Palace.

The Aquamarine and Diamond Laurel Brooch

This petite bauble is an interesting one: a rectangular aquamarine surrounded by two delicate diamond laurel branches. The Queen rarely wears it, though she’s had it in her collection since at least the 1980s. Here, she wears it for a Diamond Jubilee Trust reception at Buckingham Palace in October 2013.

The Brazilian Aquamarine Brooch

The Queen’s magnificent parure of Brazilian aquamarines, which we discussed here yesterday, includes this vibrant blue aquamarine brooch. The Queen usually wears it separately from the rest of the suite, as she did above for a service of celebration at Westminster Abbey to mark the 60th anniversary of her coronation in June 2013.

The Queen Mother’s Aquamarine Art Deco Brooch

One of my favorite aquamarine brooches from the Queen’s collection is this fantastic diamond and aquamarine Art Deco piece. It’s a legacy from the Queen Mother; you can see it close-up over here. Above, in July 2017, the brooch sparkled during a garden party at Buckingham Palace.