The Court Jeweller

Sparkling Royal Jewels From Around the World

Queen Victoria’s Pearl and Diamond Brooch

by // Leave a Comment

Chris Jackson/Getty Images

One of the most delightful aspects of the British royal jewelry vaults is the collection earmarked as “heirlooms of the crown” — jewels designated to be worn by sovereigns and their consorts. Today’s brooch, Queen Victoria’s Pearl and Diamond Brooch, is one of those pieces.

Chris Jackson/Getty Images

Leslie Field describes the brooch as “a large diamond-shaped design set with numerous diamonds, eight pearls and three pendant pearl drops,” adding that Queen Victoria is the monarch who designated the piece as an heirloom of the crown.

ADRIAN DENNIS/AFP/Getty Images

Field also notes that “Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother wore [the brooch] a great deal in the 1950s but it has not been seen in many years.” Later in her life, the Queen Mum began wearing the brooch again. Above, she dons it for a visit to the Chelsea Flower Show in 2001.

JOHN STILLWELL/AFP/Getty Images

After the Queen Mother’s death in 2002, her daughter, Queen Elizabeth II, began wearing the brooch. She’s chosen it for some high-profile occasions, including the 2009 Christmas Broadcast.

Yui Mok – WPA Pool/Getty Images

She wore the brooch again for the Christmas Broadcast in 2016. You’ll note that the Queen often wears the brooch with blue ensembles, though she has also worn it with other colors, including pink.

BEN STANSALL/AFP/Getty Images

And in March 2015, she selected the brooch for an important service of commemoration at Westminster Abbey. The service honored British troops stationed in Afghanistan.

The Queen Mother’s Rock Crystal Brooch

by // Leave a Comment

Wikimedia Commons

Really good royal brooches stand the test of time — they look as good and as fresh when worn today as they did nearly a century ago. Today’s brooch, the Queen Mother’s Rock Crystal Brooch, fits that description perfectly.

Chris Jackson – WPA Pool/Getty Images

The brooch is made of translucent rock crystal carved with scroll designs. The jewel features a diamond centerpiece and diamond edging with black enamel detailing. This view from the side of the piece emphasizes the carved designs. Because the rock crystal is translucent, the brooch takes on the color of the fabric worn behind it, sometimes obscuring the delicate details of the piece.

Wikimedia Commons

The piece has some Art Deco details, which fits with its probable construction date. The Queen Mother began wearing the brooch in the 1920s, most often as a hat ornament. Above, she wears the brooch on a cloche for engagements in Brisbane during the royal tour of Australia in April 1927.

Chris Jackson/Getty Images

Today, the brooch is worn by the Duchess of Cornwall. Above, she wears the brooch during a trip to Poland in April 2008.

Chris Jackson/Getty Images

One of Camilla’s most prominent outings in the brooch so far came in April 2009, when she wore it to the Vatican for a meeting with Pope Benedict. The translucent quality of the rock crystal is especially apparent when it’s worn against a dark color — on this occasion, black.

Eddie Mulholland – Pool/Getty Images

The brooch has made several recent appearances, including an outing on Christmas Day at Sandringham. Above, Camilla wore the brooch in February 2018 for a visit to the Royal Academy of Dance in London.

The Irish Guards Brooch

by // Leave a Comment

Chris Jackson/AFP/Getty Images

With St. Patrick’s Day quickly approaching, it’s only right this weekend to turn our attention toward a British royal brooch with a major connection to the holiday: the Irish Guards Brooch.

Clodagh Kilcoyne – WPA Pool/Getty Images

Although the brooch appears to be a smooth golden shamrock when viewed from a distance, close-up photography reveals that the brooch’s surface is textured. A single emerald is placed at the center of the shamrock. Various tales have been told about this brooch’s provenance over the years, but we seem to know for sure that it belongs to the Irish Guards and is loaned out to royal ladies who are associated with the regiment.

Embed from Getty Images

For example, the Princess Royal wore the brooch on St. Patrick’s Day for several years when she handed out shamrocks to the regiment, as you can see in the image above from 2009.

Embed from Getty Images

The brooch itself may date to 2000, when the regiment celebrated its hundredth birthday. That year, the Queen Mother, who presented shamrocks to the regiment on St. Patrick’s Day each year, also celebrated her hundredth birthday. It seems that the brooch may have been created (at least partly) in her honor. The Queen Mother appears to be wearing the brooch in the photograph above, taken in June 2000 at the Irish Guards Centenary service of thanksgiving and commemoration at the Guards Chapel in London.

Carl Court – WPA Pool/Getty Images

Since 2011, the Duchess of Cambridge has been the exclusive royal wearer of the brooch. (The Duke of Cambridge was made Colonel of the Irish Guards shortly before their royal wedding, and he wore the uniform of the regiment on their wedding day.) Her first appearance in the piece came in June 2011, when she attended a medal parade for the regiment at Victoria Barracks in Windsor.

Chris Jackson – WPA Pool/Getty Images

She also wears the brooch each year to present shamrocks to the regiment, following in the footsteps of Queen Alexandra, Princess Mary, the Queen Mother, and the Princess Royal. Above, you can see the brooch pinned to her lapel on St. Patrick’s Day 2012.

Richard Pohle – WPA Pool/Getty Images

And here’s how she wore the brooch on St. Patrick’s Day in 2017. That year, she paired the jewel with earrings made of gold and green onyx — a good pairing for the colors of the brooch.

PAUL FAITH/AFP/Getty Images

Kate has also worn the brooch for events related more broadly to Northern Ireland. In June 2016, she wore the shamrock brooch for a garden party at Hillsborough Castle during her visit with the Duke of Cambridge to Northern Ireland.