Diana, Princess of Wales Jewellery 2

[Warren]

Originally Posted by Boris

...so it's not a sin - and no reason to be rather gruff, IMHO - if the subject comes up again periodically. Others do as well, and it doesn't hurt really to refresh one's memory.

It's certainly no sin if the subject is raised as a question. However, when it is raised or presented as a fact the subject takes on a different colour.

As to the provenance of Camilla's POW Feathers Brooch my understanding is that it hasn't been established. The best that has been speculated is there were more POW brooches in the vaults than we were aware.
No surprise on that score as more likely than not there is a treasure-trove of unknown jewels lying neatly in their presentation cases in those dark and dusty vaults.

[scooter]

Originally Posted by jcbcode99

I have seen this program and it is wonderful eye candy! However, I suggest watching with a grain of salt. There are several inaccuracies about Diana's jewels, their history and the narrator states several times that Camilla wears several pieces of Diana's jewelry, which is untrue. But, as I said it is DELIGHTFUL eye candy!

I. Did. Not. Bring. It. Up. Janet made the above reply to BrightLighter's post, saying it was untrue. I simply asked how she knew that. When she replied, I said ok, thanks. Certainly, I did not 'post obvious misinformation as fact'. Please review the posts of 12/23. I dont mind being called out if I've actually incited a riot, but this is not one of those occasions.

[sirhon11234]

The jewels that the Princess recieved from state visits did they belong to her or since she recieved them on a state visit do they belong to the crown?

[jcbcode99]

Good question, Sirhon! Of course, I don't really know the answer. But, my thinking is that if a gift is given to the Princess of Wales then it belongs to the Royal Collection? Of course, I could be wrong given that Queen Victoria's turkish diamond necklace was a coronation gift and she gave it to the Duke of Connaught.
However, it probably doesn't really even matter because the boys would naturally inherit anything of their mothers with William's share probably reverting back to the Royal Collection and Harry becoming a Duke like the Kents or Gloucester's.

[James in London]

Right - her I go... my first post. Hopefully it'll break up the ongoing spat. (For the record, the mighty Camilla would of course not be so dense as to wear anything of Diana's, she has played her cards so cleverly for so long, she would not make such a foolish error.)

Now, something I had long wondered (and indeed wondered if I was the only person who wondered such things - hurrah I'm not!) is about the Oman sapphire necklace. She did sport around the same time (87ish) a rather fabulous Dynasty-esque ruby tassle number, very Duchess of Windsor. The necklace it was based on seemed the same as the Oman sapphires - were they indeed the same necklace with different pendants/centrepieces. Anyone know?

[Boris]

Welcome on board, James in London!
True, true, those weird things which occupy space in the wondering Royal watcher's mind...
The Omani sapphire and the ruby necklaces are two different ones. The ruby tassel necklace indeed resembles the famous Duchess of Windsor ruby tassel necklace... and Dyanasty-esque isn't a bad description either!
Diana's ruby necklace was part of a parure with matching earrings and bracelet. Necklace and bracelet were only seen once in public - so it must have been rather too grand for her taste, I guess. Much more elaborate than the Omani set. But she continued to wear the matching earrings, sometimes replacing the dangling ruby tassels at the bottom with drop pearls.
As this modern set appeared at the same time (fall 1987) as the other gifts from the Gulf tour, I'd say it's likely that this is the origin of the rubies as well...
...the others, apart from the Omani sapphires, probably being the large aquamarine and diamond earrings and the cabochon amethyst suite.

[James in London]

Thanks for that. I only wondered, as the necklace the ruby tassle and the blue sapphire triangle thingie were on were the same, so I just wondered if they were interchangeable. I was sad not to see the Dynasty rubies again, as they were very glam, and Di wasn't known to shy away from a bit of bling in her day. I thought the Oman sapphires lovely, but could have been bigger.

And I was surprised to discover the amethysts were just that. For some reason I had always imagined they were paste (she did go through a very big Butler and Wilson period), but of course, I see now that they were priceless. Silly me.

My favourite Diana jewel I guess has to be the sapphire necklace from the Saudi's for the wedding gift. I just thought that was stunning. Such a shame there wasn't a tiara bunged in too... those stingy Sheikhs!

[Warren]

Here is the link to an excellent site created by one of our members, ayvee.
It has great pictures and descriptions of some of the more serious jewellery worn by Diana... Diana's Jewels
(www dianasjewels.net)
.

[Boris]

Ayvee's site is absolutely the best source for everything related to Princess Diana's jewelry, including the rarely worn jewelry (there are quite a few important pieces seen only once). I guess it's the definite inventory of all the jewels ever worn by the Princess.
The information provided is absolutely reliable too - great work.

[GillW]

Originally Posted by James in London

Thanks for that. I only wondered, as the necklace the ruby tassle and the blue sapphire triangle thingie were on were the same, so I just wondered if they were interchangeable. I was sad not to see the Dynasty rubies again, as they were very glam, and Di wasn't known to shy away from a bit of bling in her day. I thought the Oman sapphires lovely, but could have been bigger.

And I was surprised to discover the amethysts were just that. For some reason I had always imagined they were paste (she did go through a very big Butler and Wilson period), but of course, I see now that they were priceless. Silly me.

My favourite Diana jewel I guess has to be the sapphire necklace from the Saudi's for the wedding gift. I just thought that was stunning. Such a shame there wasn't a tiara bunged in too... those stingy Sheikhs!

Welcome to the Boards, James in London - always nice to have a new voice and perspective on the topics here.

Of course amethysts are actually one of the (generally) less expensive stones, so they are undoubtedly genuine. Their deep colour makes them more desirable, naturally.

Looking forward to hearing more from you! - Welcome again...

[scooter]

My personal favorite is the Swan Lake diamond and pearl necklace. I also love the sapphire brooch from QEQM that was made into a necklace, which she wore to the White House. I'm not too wild about the modern tassel necklaces, they always look off center to me.

[Boris]

The 'Swan Lake' necklace was beautiful, but never hers - Princess Diana borrowed it for that one night. Statements that she had planned to actually buy it have to be taken with a grain of salt, to put it mildly - the claim was certainly made to rise the necklace's re-sale value.

[James in London]

Thanks for the welcome GillW... After months of just reading these boards, I decided to dip a toe in - and cannot believe I waited so long. Of course now, I just need to make sure I don't spend ALL my free time on here.... I'm just happy to know I am not the only one so obsessed by all of this - my friends eyes just glaze over.

Anyway, am off topic. Don't want to get a telling off in my first few posts!

Back to Di's rocks. Swan Lake was of course a fabulous piece - and I think it was Di having fun with jewelery at this time, and wearing grown up pieces elegantly, not playing around with headbands like she would have been a decade before. Such a pity we didn't get to see more of these amazing pieces being trotted out by her!

[iakynthi]

I like all of her tiaras.Perhaps some of them are not so elegant,but I love seeing them on Diana.She definitely knew how to wear jewels without jewels wearing her

[Incas]

Umm, she only had worn two. which one wasn't so elegant?

[jcbcode99]

Originally Posted by Incas

Umm, she only had worn two. which one wasn't so elegant?

I would venture that iakynthi is thinking of Diana's experiments with her chokers:
Princess Diana's jewels - Page: 4 of 4

Princess Diana's jewels - Page: 4 of 4 (go all the way down for the sapphire one)

both of which looked ridiculous on her. Truly--however, she wore the Spencer and the Lover's Knot very well.

[sirhon11234]

I thought it was clever that she wore the cambridge choker as a bandeu. The other choker did look ridiculous but fashionable at the time though.

[jcbcode99]

I do agree, it was clever--but certainly not a "fashion-do". But, I'd love to wear that Cambridge choker--forehead, neck, ankle--doesn't matter. I'd love to get my hands on it.

[joye]

Diana had a charm bracelet. Photo show 11 charms.
9 are identified thus"
Gold W
Gold H
ballet shoes
tennis racquet
polo cap
minitre St Paul's Cathedral
bear
apple
pig

What are the other 2 charms, and what do they represent?

[GillW]

Originally Posted by sirhon11234

I thought it was clever that she wore the cambridge choker as a bandeu. The other choker did look ridiculous but fashionable at the time though.

Of course on both occasions she had a reason to wear those pieces as a headband. In Australia her neck was tender from the hot sun, so she wore her planned jewel on her head instead. In Japan, she felt that a tiara adding to her height above her diminutive hosts would have been too much, so chose to wear the lower profile instead.