Queen Elizabeth II: Tiaras, Necklaces etc 2: Nov 2007-Dec 2015

[EIIR]

I also feel, perhaps incorrectly, that HM's brooches won't be worn nearly so often when she's no longer with us. I'd leave the really historic ones as they are but take a few of the less special ones (if that's even possible) and re-work the stones into more wearable necklaces or bracelets.

Camilla will use them I'm sure, but I just don't see Kate as a big brooch wearer. I hate the thought of them sitting in the vault never worn.

 

[MichelleQ2]

I think part of Kate's reticence with jewels is trying to be respectful of her place - not too much bling in her 1st yr...but we have seen some flashes. Kate may not be a big brooch person, but they could be used in her hair or some other repurposed use. And who knows.... She could dust off some other long lost treasures.... maybe she will resurrect the stomacher (which would look fabulous on her!)

 

[EIIR]

You could well be right Michelle. I'm a couple of years younger than Kate, and maybe it's a generational thing, but I don't wear brooches and don't know anyone my age who does. I know Kate has worn the maple leaf brooch and the shamrock for the Irish Guards, but I just can't see her wearing brooches on a daily basis.

Queen Mary's stomacher is such a stunningly beautiful piece, it deserves to be worn. Those diamonds are amazing and I just think if it was re-made into a tiara or necklace and bracelet, it would get a lot more use.

 

[muriel]

HM is wearing the three string George VI collet necklace at the State Opening of Parliament today

 

[muriel]

You are welcome.
I'd really love to have a glimpse at Her Majesty's entire private jewellery collection; my imagination just goes overboard trying to imagine the stunning pieces doomed to see the daylight only a couple of times a decade, if that. Those beauties should be permanently on display. Now, Queen Mary understood that; shame no one has taken her mantle! I had high hopes for Camilla (she chose to wear some pretty stunning tiaras, necklaces and brooches, most from royal collection), but lately she just wears her the same trusty pieces.

Now how likely is that? Much as I like to see the jewels, I think there is somethign to be said for the mystery surrounding what may or may not emerge from the vaults every now and then.

You are welcome.
I had high hopes for Camilla (she chose to wear some pretty stunning tiaras, necklaces and brooches, most from royal collection), but lately she just wears her the same trusty pieces.

I agree, Camilla does have potential, but in recent years appears to have retreated to the trusted favourites. Part of this may be because of the economic environment, and part of it may be driven by the negative press Camilla gets every time she wears a really OTT piece (eg: Saudi ruby breastplate in the US, Greville 5 string necklace in Kampala)

 

[ldmemail]

Does anyone recognise the earrings Her Majesty wore to the State Opening of Parliament today? I wonder if they are new as I do not recognise them at all!!!

 

[Artemisia]

I certainly don't. Without the close up, I thought those were either Queen Mary’s Pendant Earrings, or Diamond Pendant Earrings.
However, from the close up this pair looks completely different (and new) to me.

 

[Grandduchess24]

In a time special magazine entitled " weird but true" I was flipping through and came upon an article and it had a picture of Queen Mary(may) and apparently one of the diamond brooches is cursed except that it has saved and some monarchs have been immune to this curse : queen victoria, Queen Mary and queen Elizabeth II it is now at the tower of London with the other royal jewels. Its name escapes me at the movement but it's interesting .

 

[ldmemail]

Oh...I think you are referring to the Kohinoor (anglicised spelling) brooch.

 

[EIIR]

Yes, the Koh i Noor apparently brings bad luck to any man who wears it. So it's only ever been worn by Queens in the BRF. It's currently in what was the Queen Mother's crown.

 

[MichelleQ2]

Oh...I think you are referring to the Kohinoor (anglicised spelling) brooch.

and IIRC isnt the curse limited to men... which is why it had been in the consorts crown after Victoria.

 

[ldmemail]

and IIRC isnt the curse limited to men... which is why it had been in the consorts crown after Victoria.

So the legend goes...

 

[MichelleQ2]

So the legend goes...

probably started by a woman who didnt want to share the stone with her husband.

 

[ldmemail]

probably started by a woman who didnt want to share the stone with her husband.

Well it was only worn by men prior to this - each one met a nasty end!!

 

[Lumutqueen]

All this from ONE stone: Jewellery from world's largest diamond goes on display at Buckingham palace | Mail Online

 

[Grandduchess24]

All this from ONE stone: Jewellery from world's largest diamond goes on display at Buckingham palace | Mail Online

That's one big beautiful diamond! Such Beautiful jewels came out of it

 

[Lumutqueen]

Queen's diamond diadem goes on display at Buckingham Palace | Mail Online

 

[IloveCP]

The Royal Order of Sartorial Splendor: Tiara Thursday: The Burmese Ruby Tiara

This is one of my least favorite tiaras. I think the design is bad even though I love rubies.

 

[RoyalMess]

I'm agreeing with you. Between this and Cam's Saudi Breastplate, the BRF isn't in short supply of rubies to make entire parures out of.
I just hope they restore the Nazim if they decide to dismantle this tiara.

 

[Artemisia]

I know few people like that tiara, but I actually do. The design is unusual but interesting and pretty, and I love the setting of the stones.

 

[COUNTESS]

I, too, think it is lovely and different.

 

[Baroness of Books]

You know, liking for this tiara is growing on me. From several angles, it sits nicely on HM's head and looks really good and in closeup, it's a beauty where you can see the detail of the ruby roses. It's only from a distance that it unfortunately looks like a couple of red blobs on her head.

 

[RoyalMess]

You know, liking for this tiara is growing on me. From several angles, it sits nicely on HM's head and looks really good and in closeup, it's a beauty where you can see the detail of the ruby roses. It's only from a distance that it unfortunately looks like a couple of red blobs on her head.

Don't get me wrong, I understand why some people would like it. It's substantial in size and the Tudor Rose symbolism is nice. But....

It's the giant red blobs. Maybe if the rubies were set in platinum or white gold, or if there were more diamonds to help separate the "petals" they would look better. And I think the rays and swags in between the rose motifs take away from the diamond petals/leaves. Maybe if they were scrolls instead, they would make the design look less harsh?

 

[Baroness of Books]

I think if the flowers were not so large and solid, the tiara would be a knockout. A scattering of diamonds interspersed might help the look as well as eliminating the ruby swags.

 

[muriel]

Don't get me wrong, I understand why some people would like it. It's substantial in size and the Tudor Rose symbolism is nice. But....

It's the giant red blobs. Maybe if the rubies were set in platinum or white gold, or if there were more diamonds to help separate the "petals" they would look better. And I think the rays and swags in between the rose motifs take away from the diamond petals/leaves. Maybe if they were scrolls instead, they would make the design look less harsh?

I agree, I think the tiara would look much better if some of the rubies were interspersed with diamonds. Perhaps that is a change Camilla can make when she gets her hands on the tiara!

 

[Lumutqueen]

Queen of diamonds: Her Majesty owns some of the world's most precious gems but, one Royal author says it's the personal ones that mean most | Mail Online

 

[Warren]

Some excerpts from the MailOnline llink...

Queen of diamonds

​

When the eight-month-old Princess Elizabeth was given a simple coral necklace in December 1926, she began a lifelong association with jewellery. Some 85 years later, Elizabeth II is custodian of one of the most fabulous jewel collections in the world. Following Queen Victoria’s death in 1901 certain jewels stipulated in her will were listed ‘as belonging to the Crown and to be worn by all future Queens in right of it’.

These would be passed down through the generations from Queen Alexandra to Queen Mary and then to the late Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother. They will eventually be handed down to Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, and to Catherine, wife of the future King William V. The personal jewels of Elizabeth II can of course be left to anyone she chooses.

Yet no definitive list exists as to what is Crown and what is personal, though it was estimated in 1987 that Elizabeth owned or had worn some 14 tiaras, 34 pairs of earrings, 98 brooches, 46 necklaces, 37 bracelets, five pendants, 14 watches and 15 rings. Add to this the items returned to the Royal Collection following the deaths of the Queen Mother, Princess Margaret and the Princess of Wales, and the royal ‘jewel pool’ is now the largest it has ever been.

Her favourite pieces are, of course, the ones with a personal association. There’s the Flower Basket Brooch her parents gave her in November 1948 to mark the birth of Prince Charles. Then there’s the platinum and diamond bracelet Prince Philip designed for her as a wedding gift.

Since the death of the Queen Mother, the Queen has worn over a dozen of her mother’s favourite brooches, as well as one of her tiaras. Poignantly, she wore one of her mother’s favourite Art Deco brooches – made of diamonds set in the design of an oyster shell with an enormous pearl in the middle – when she unveiled the statue of her mother in The Mall in February 2009.

Without doubt, the Queen’s favourite piece is her engagement ring, which she wears every day. Made of 11 diamonds from a tiara belonging to Philip’s mother, Princess Andrew of Greece, it is set in platinum to the prince’s design. While Elizabeth II is happy to dress to impress, it is the smaller personal items that mean the most – and these she wouldn’t swap for a Queen’s ransom.

 

[MARG]

Queen of diamonds: Her Majesty owns some of the world's most precious gems but, one Royal author says it's the personal ones that mean most | Mail Online

Good grief! That has to be the worst, the most awful, the most utterly terrible photo of the Queen. She looks like a caricature of herself!

Has some over-eager photo-shopper given her eye make-up more suited to a bordello, or what? As for the rest of her make-up? It looks like it's been applied with a trowel. Even her beautiful white hair has been transformed into the blue rinse from hell!!!!

Since the article is about the Queen's bling and the photo shows relatively little bling (for her), I can only imagine it's some rabid anti-monarchist let loose without rein.

Thank you very much Mail Online, if this is them in "Jubilee" mode, I shudder to think what sort of photo or article they would print to wish her happy!

 

[RoyalMess]

Not to mention they picked a photo where she wears the ugliest tiara in her collection!

Speaking of ugly tiaras, I want to get back to the Burmese for a second. I was thinking about how she could have used the rubies without sacrificing a good tiara like the Nizam. What if she clustered them into drop pendents and hung them in the Vladimir Tiara? That way she wouldn't have to take diamonds from anywhere and she would add even more versatility to a tiara she already favors. I can't help thinking that neither HM or even Queen Mary used the GDV to its full potential.

But what's done is done, I suppose

 

[Grandduchess24]

The photo in the article looks photoshopped to me, plus it looks like the queen is wearing too much, it's just a horrible picture of HM.