Saturday Sparkle: A Diamond and Emerald Brooch, 1930

Diamond and Emerald Brooch
French, 1930
The Victoria & Albert Museum

Dense configurations of diamonds in geometric patterns defined the jewelry design of the 1930’s. Very often, designers, especially the French, adapted these rigid designs into stylized organic forms. Especially popular were feathers and flowers.


This brooch is the epitome of 1930’s style. Brilliant cut and baguette diamonds set in platinum take on an abstracted feather form—contrasted by cool green cabochon emeralds. The platinum framework is easily removed so that this brooch can be worn as a flexible pendant.



 
 

Saturday Sparkle: Queen Elizabeth II’s Wedding Bracelet, 1947

Diamond Bracelet
Philip Antrobus, 1947
English
The Royal Collection

For their 1947 wedding, Prince Philip (now the Duke of Edinburgh) wanted to present his bride (now Queen Elizabeth II) with a fitting token of his affection. Philip’s mother, Princess Andrew of Greece, offered her son the brilliant-cut diamonds from one of her tiaras so that they could be reset into a new piece of jewelry for the woman who would become Queen of England.


Prince Philip commissioned London jeweler Philip Antrobus (of 6 Old Bond Street) to create this magnificent bracelet in a very late-1940’s style. The diamonds are gorgeous in their platinum setting and show that despite his gruff exterior, Prince Philip might just have some of the artistic sensibility demonstrated by Prince Albert in the mid Nineteenth Century.

Saturday Sparkle: Queen Mary’s Stomacher, circa 1920

Queen Mary's Stomacher
Circa 1920
Gold and Diamonds
The Royal Collection

I love the word “stomacher.” The term often refers to a decorative fabric panel of a triangular shape that fits into the front of a woman’s gown at the bodice. It also refers to a similarly shaped piece of jewelry which is worn in the same spot on a gown.


This stomacher was made for Mary of Teck around 1920, possible by Garrard’s. This magnificent work of gold and diamonds is actually three brooches that can be worn as one piece or individually. It was constructed from the large diamonds from two of her wedding presents: the “Kapurthala” stomacher and the ‘Town of Swansea’ crescent, both given in 1893. Queen Mary wore the stomacher frequently and made it a gift to her granddaughter, Princess Elizabeth (now Queen Elizabeth II) on her wedding day in 1947.