Royal Jewels

[LadyAmythyst69]

My first post! Hope I am doing this right.... (can''''t tell if the picture will post.)

Anyhow, Prince Joachim of Denmark was engaged today to a Frenchwoman named Marie Cavallier. Her engagement ring has a sapphire, diamond and ruby to reflect the colors of the French flag. It was chosen by Joachim who also made some modifications to it.

IMHO I think the ring is a bit fugly. I like that he put some thought into it but it would have been nice to see a family heirloom used - although since this is his second marriage maybe it doesn''''t have enough "weight" in royal terms to merit an heirloom ring.

 

[LadyAmythyst69]

I don''t think this one was posted yet. This is Autumn Kelly''s engagement ring. She is a Canadian girl who is the fiancee of Peter Phillips, son of Princess Anne of England, grandson of Queen Elizabeth. They got engaged last month. The ring is a five stone - center oval diamond flanked by two more ovals and then what look like possibly shields. It reportedly cost $160,000.00.

This ring is in keeping with the more recent trend of English Royals choosing diamonds over gemstones for their erings. I think Sophie Wessex was the first to choose a diamond and then everyone since has been a diamond.

I''ll be interested to see what Prince William will get his (eventual) fiancee!

 

[LadyAmythyst69]

Crown1 - The avatar I chose is actually another ring with Royal connections. (Do we see a theme here?) It''s the ering that Princess Diana''s brother, Charles Earl Spencer, gave to his first wife Victoria Lockwood. It was an antique ring that he bought from a dealer in London. There was a trend - either Victorian or Edwardian period - can''t remember which - for "crowned rings" or rings topped with bows. Usually they featured a double heart motif like this one.

I just thought it was a gorgeous ring - a really fine example of it''s type - better even than the ones I''ve seen in the museums in London! It also fit in well with the historical feel/theme that they did for their wedding. The birdesmaids and grooms outfits were copied from a Gainsborough painting that hangs at the Spencer estate of Althorp.

Anyhow - the marriage ended in disaster - as did Earl Spencer''s second marriage as well. I think that ering was about the only thing I like about him!

 

[LadyAmythyst69]

And since we''re talking about it - here are some photos of Sophie, Countess of Wessex''s ering.

 

[LadyAmythyst69]

And another of Sophie''s ring. It was indeed a two carat round diamond with a heart on either side.

 

[LadyAmythyst69]

And the last one of Sophie''s ring. It''s frustrating because there aren''t any really great shots of it out there. And I would LOVE to see a better one.

Sophie has her second (and much struggled for) baby due this December. I''m a fan of hers as well & wish her a lot of luck with the new baby since she almost lost her life delivering the first one!

I''ve got tons more Royal erings I could post about. I''m a historian & I specialize in British Art History and Royal History (in general but British in specific) - so I could go on and on...

But I''m new here & I don''t want to wear out my welcome.

 

[LadyAmythyst69]

Here is the Queen''s ering. It is all diamonds & Prince Philip did get them from his mothers tiara. He was an "impoverished" royal in exile so he couldn''t just order something up from Garrards. But personally I like the idea & think it''s sweet too. The center stone is 3 carats and there are five smaller stone on each side.

 

[LadyAmythyst69]

Here''s a new photo of Prince Joachim of Denmark''s fiancee Marie''s ring. Still don''t like it much...

 

[LadyAmythyst69]

Speaking of Princess Diana - her famous ring...

 

[LadyAmythyst69]

Yep - they had a nugget of pure Gold from a Welsh mine but the last of that was used for Sarah, Duchess of York''s wedding ring. A new nugget had to be purchased for Sophie, Countess of Wessex''s ring. It was sort of a big deal because they had been "presented" with the original gold nugget and since then the Welsh mine that had supplied it had been tapped out. They eventually made a deal with a jeweler (I want to say Garrards but not sure) to purchase another nugget from the same mine which the jeweler had been saving in it''s vaults. But this second gold nugget is smaller than the first so no one is sure how long that one will last & then what will the Royals do to keep up the tradition? There is apparently no more of that gold to be had.

 

[LadyAmythyst69]

Originally posted by SanDiegoLady:

Sarah Ferguson''s lovely ring.. I loved Sarah for her saucyness. Fiery little redhead

 

[LadyAmythyst69]

More Royal rings -

This is Princess Mette-Marit, one day to be Queen of Norway. She was a single mom when Crown Prince Haakon fell in love with her. Can you imagine the scandal & ruckus that would have caused in jolly old England? Mette-Marit has turned out to be a great asset to the monarchy and is very popular. They now have two children of their own and her son from her previous relationship has been accepted with open arms. It''s quite a Cinderella story!

The ring is a Royal heirloom and I think it''s gorgeous. Mette-Marit doesn''t often wear it nowadays which I think is a shame.

 

[LadyAmythyst69]

Another of Mette-Marit''s ring. I really like the style of the ring - maybe it''s not typical for a Royal in the sense of being huge and/or flashy but I think it suits her.

 

[LadyAmythyst69]

Last one of Mette-Marit''s ring.

 

[LadyAmythyst69]

Another of Princess Diana''s ring. I know we have all seen it a million times but I just think it''s beautiful. It''s actually probably THE piece of jewelry that got me interested in jewelry in the first place - way back in the olden days. Her sapphire was 18 carats and was surrounded by 14 diamonds. You can also see Diana''s Welsh gold wedding ring.

 

[LadyAmythyst69]

Just some more jewelry trivia -

In the last Diana photo I posted, you can also see her gold Cartier Tank watch. Supposedly when she died Prince Harry took the sapphire engagement ring and Prince William took the watch. I was surprised at that because I had always assumed that William would take the ring...but maybe he thought that the ring came with too much "baggage". I personally can''t imagine another woman wearing it!

 

[LadyAmythyst69]

Just going back to Sophie, Countess of Wessex''s ering for a moment with some updated info:

The center stone is a 2.02 carat oval.

Also - it is 18 ct white gold and was made by Asprys (they are the crown jewelers now - Garrards still has the Queen''s warrant but is no longer the "Crown Jewelers". The crown jewelers are the ones that are literally responsible for maintaining the actual crown jewels.). It cost 105,000 pounds and is supposedly the most expensive (English) Royal ering in history.

 

[LadyAmythyst69]

I found some photos of the ering of Prince Joachim of Denmark''s first wife Princess Alexandra. Who do you think got the better deal? The first wife or his new fiancee Marie?

 

[LadyAmythyst69]

Another of Princess Alexandra''s ring - not too good I''m afraid. The first is the best photo I have found so far. I don''t have specific stats on the ring but it looks like a six sided diamond with small cabochon rubies on either side and set in yellow gold. The colors of white and red are for the country of Denmark.

 

[LadyAmythyst69]

More of the Danish Royal Family Jewels...

This is the ering that Crown Prince Frederick gave to his wife Mary Donaldson. It is (again) in the colors of the Danish flag, red and white. The whole flag thing is a long standing tradition in Denmark. Anyhow, Mary''s ring is an emerald cut diamond flanked by emerald cut rubies on either side.

 

[LadyAmythyst69]

A close up of Mary''s ring.

 

[LadyAmythyst69]

Another of Princess Mary''s ring...

 

[LadyAmythyst69]

And this one just because it is fabulous eye candy -

Mary was also given this suite of ruby jewels. Frederick inherited them from his Grandmother, who he was very close to, a few years before his marriage. What a wedding present!

 

[LadyAmythyst69]

I thought I''d post these as well since I''m on the topic of Royals and Rubies -

Sarah, Duchess of York''s famous Burmese ruby ering, set in yellow gold basket with a white gold band and surrounded by ten drop diamonds. Rumor has it that Prince Andrew initially presented Sarah with an emerald ring but Sarah said she would prefer a ruby. (You gotta love the gumption!) The British Royal Family has a superstition against rubies (and opals) so it has rarely been chosen as an engagement ring. The only other ruby ering in recent history was Princess Margaret''s (the Queen''s late sister). Since both of those marriages ended badly I''m doubting we will see a ruby ering again any time soon!

 

[LadyAmythyst69]

Another of Sarah''s ering. This is the way she usually wore it - with a lot of other gold jewelry around it. It''s only recently that she has started wearing the ring much less. She wore it for years and years despite the divorce.

The ring on her pinky finger is Prince Andrew''s signet ring and on the other pinky finger is a rolling ring (I think Cartier) which Andrew gave her when they first began dating.

 

[LadyAmythyst69]

While I''m at it....this is Sarah''s Tiara. Poor Sarah never received any Royal jewels at all. Everything she had was bought for her during her marriage. This despite the fact that the Queen was supposedly quite fond of her.

The tiara was purchased from Garrard''s.

 

[LadyAmythyst69]

Frederik and Mary were married in 2004. They have two children, son Christian who will inherit after Frederik, and a daughter Isabella. The marriage seems to be happy and Mary is popular in her adopted country. I think that is one royal marriage which will last!

Mary has fabulous jewelry in general. Here''s another view of the fabulous ruby parure. I can post more of her jewelry if people are interested.

 

[LadyAmythyst69]

Well alrighty then!

How about more of Crown Princess Mary of Denmark''s jewels. I think she has the best jewels of any of the crown princesses in Europe.

Some super aquamarine and diamond earrings.

 

[LadyAmythyst69]

Another view of Mary''s ruby parure.

 

[LadyAmythyst69]

A fabulous sapphire and diamond brooch which Prince Frederik gave to Mary to celebrate the birth of their son Christian.