The Court Jeweller

Sparkling Royal Jewels From Around the World

This Week in Royal Jewels: October 11-18

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October 11-18, 2018
It’s been an amazingly busy week for royal jewelry — we’ve got a super-sized roundup here, and there will be a separate review later this morning just for the jewels from the royal wedding! In the meantime, enjoy these non-wedding jewels, and remember to vote for your favorites in the poll!
Olivier Matthys/Getty Images
20. On Friday, Queen Mathilde of the Belgians wore her signature gold earrings to attend the 25th anniversary celebration of the Belgian Council for Durable Development in Brussels.

KHALIL MAZRAAWI/AFP/Getty Images
19. For the opening of parliament in Amman on Sunday, Queen Rania of Jordan chose a pair of earrings with pendant drops.
Scott Barbour/Getty Images
18. The Duchess of Sussex paired a gold and diamond bangle from Shaun Leane with a beaded bracelet on South Melbourne Beach on Thursday.
Ernesto S. Ruscio/Getty Images
17. Trendy geometric climber earrings were Queen Letizia of Spain’s choice for the inauguration of the exhibition of the World Food Day at FAO Headquarters in Rome on Tuesday.
KHALIL MAZRAAWI/AFP/Getty Images
16. Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden wore earrings with coral-colored drops on Tuesday during a visit to the Baqa’a Palestinian refugee camp in Jordan.
NICOLAS ASFOURI/AFP/Getty Images
15. For the beginning of the royal visit to China on Tuesday, Queen Sonja of Norway wore the orange topaz earrings from her Modern Gold Parure. (More about that suite here!)
Antonio Quilez – Pool/Getty Images
14. For a National Day reception at the Royal Palace in Madrid on Friday, Queen Letizia of Spain chose her diamond feather earrings.
Patrick van Katwijk/Getty Images
13. Diamond hoop earrings were Queen Maxima of the Netherlands’s accessory of choice for a visit to Schouwen-Duiveland en Tholen in Zeeland on Tuesday.
FRANK VAN BEEK/AFP/Getty Images
12. Queen Maxima wore glittering earrings and her diamond wedding bracelet on Monday for an audience with the Chinese prime minister in The Hague.
SILAS STEIN/AFP/Getty Images
11. In Trier on October 11, Queen Maxima paired her hoop earrings and her wedding bracelet with her tennis-style sapphire and diamond bracelet and her diamond and ruby ring.
UWE ANSPACH/AFP/Getty Images
10. Statement earrings by Amrapali accompanied Queen Maxima to the Voelklinger Huette World Cultural Heritage Site on Friday. (More on the earrings here!)
Phil Noble – Pool/Getty Images
9. The Duchess of Sussex wore jewels that belonged to her late mother-in-law, Diana, Princess of Wales, for the first day of her visit to Australia. (Much more here!)
FILIPPO MONTEFORTE/AFP/Getty Images
8. Queen Sofia of Spain wore pearls and gold jewels on Sunday at the Vatican for a canonization ceremony for Pope Paul VI and the martyred Salvadoran Archbishop Oscar Romero.
Frank Augstein – WPA Pool/Getty Images
7. To announce the winner of the 2018 Man Booker Prize on Tuesday, the Duchess of Cornwall wore her classic diamond and turquoise earrings.
ANGELA WEISS/AFP/Getty Images
6. In New York on Tuesday, Princess Charlene of Monaco wore diamond earrings and a lariat-style necklace to attend the 2018 Princess Grace Awards Gala.
Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images for Princess Grace Foundation-USA
5. Pauline Ducruet, daughter of Princess Stephanie of Monaco, also wore diamonds — statement earrings and a large cuff bracelet — to attend the Princess Grace Awards Gala.
ANDERS WIKLUND/AFP/Getty Images
4. Queen Silvia of Sweden wore diamonds, pearls, and gold bangles to the Royal Opera in Stockholm on October 11.
HEATHCLIFF O’MALLEY/AFP/Getty Images
3. The magnificent Flame Lily Brooch helped Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom celebrate the centenary of the RAF Club in London on Wednesday. (More on the brooch here!)
Jonathan Brady- WPA Pool/Getty Images
2. For audiences at Buckingham Palace on Tuesday, Queen Elizabeth II chose the Cambridge Emerald Cluster Brooch with its emerald pendant. (More on the brooch here!)
Casa de S.M. el Rey
1. Queen Letizia sparkled in the earrings and bracelets from the joyas de pasar in Oviedo on Thursday for the annual Princess of Asturias Awards. (More on the joyas over here!)

Diana’s Butterflies for Meghan in Sydney

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PETER PARKS/AFP/Getty Images

It’s been a big week already for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex: they’ve kicked off their first royal tour and announced that they’re expecting a baby next spring! And, perhaps most exciting of all, they’ve dug deep into the family jewelry vaults to bring out an heirloom surprise in Sydney.

Phil Noble – Pool/Getty Images

At Admiralty House in Sydney on Tuesday morning, Meghan stepped out in a white dress accessorized with earrings and a bracelet that belonged to her late mother-in-law, Diana, Princess of Wales.

Chris Jackson/Getty Images

The palace has confirmed that the pieces are from Diana’s personal jewelry collection. Here’s a good look at one of the butterfly earrings (which had a tendency to rotate a bit in Meghan’s ears, a typical issue with large stud earrings).

Kristy Wigglesworth – Pool/Getty Images

Here’s a good close-up view of the earrings from today’s appearance.

DEAN LEWINS/AFP/Getty Images

We also got a decent look at the bangle bracelet, also from Diana’s collection, as Harry and Meghan visited Taronga Zoo, where they met a baby koala named in Meghan’s honor.

DEAN LEWINS/AFP/Getty Images

Here’s a closer look at the piece, which, like the earrings, appears to be made of gold, diamonds, and enamel.

PETER PARKS/AFP/Getty Images

Meghan’s engagement and wedding rings were also visible during Tuesday’s daytime tour schedule.

Chris Jackson/Getty Images

I’m not sure the Sussexes can top a pregnancy announcement and an outing of Diana’s long-hidden jewels for the remainder of this lengthy tour, but I’m looking forward to seeing them try!

The Courtauld Thomson Scallop-Shell Brooch

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The Queen wears the brooch at the Canadian Museum of Nature in Ottawa, June 2010 (Chris Jackson/Getty Images)

You know you have a serious amount of charisma when multiple people who are not family members leave you glittering jewels in their wills. Such was the luck of the Queen Mum, who famously received the gigantic Greville jewel bequest from a family friend; even better, she also inherited today’s piece, the Courtauld Thomson Scallop-Shell Brooch, from a loyal subject.

Chris Jackson/Getty Images

The brooch, which features a shell motif in diamonds studded with a single round pearl, was made in 1919 in London by the Goldsmiths and Silversmiths Co., Ltd. It was designed in part by Sir Courtauld Thomson, who was the son of a famous Scottish inventor. His sister, the writer Winifred Hope Thomson, ended up with the piece, and she was the one who left it to the Queen Mum in 1944.

The Queen Mother wears the brooch in London for the Trooping the Colour carriage procession, June 2000 (SUNDAY MIRROR/AFP/Getty Images)

According to Hugh Roberts, Thomson noted that she willed the brooch to the Queen Mum “as a mark of respect and profound admiration.” She also indicated that she wanted it to be a brooch that was passed from queen to queen in Britain.

The Queen Mother (with Prince Charles) wears the brooch on her 100th birthday, 4 August 2000 (ADRIAN DENNIS/AFP/Getty Images)

The Queen Mum wore the gorgeous brooch throughout her lifetime. It was clearly a valued possession, because she chose to wear it on her 100th birthday in August 2000. When she died two years later, the brooch was inherited by her daughter, Queen Elizabeth II.

The Queen wears the brooch at the wedding of Zara Phillips and Mike Tindall in Edinburgh, July 2011 (BEN STANSALL/AFP/Getty Images)

The Queen has been wearing the scallop-shell brooch more and more in recent years. She even selected it for the wedding of her eldest granddaughter, Zara Phillips, in 2011.

The Queen wears the brooch for the unveiling of a statue of the Queen Mother on the Mall near Buckingham Palace, February 2009 (KIRSTY WIGGLESWORTH/AFP/Getty Images)

Appropriately, the Queen has also worn it for important events related to her mother, including a memorial service marking ten years since the Queen Mother’s death and the unveiling of her statue on the Mall.

Note: This is an updated and expanded version of an earlier post.