The coronation of King Charles III dominated the weekend as he was crowned in Westminster Abbey alongside his wife Queen Camilla. The historic event was broadcast across the world as millions tuned in to watch the landmark occasion.
The ceremony included a wealth of royal jewels, including the coronation regalia, which were last used at the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. Though the jewels didn’t end there and the royal ladies sported a wealth of stunning pieces – from inherited pearls to historic diamonds.
Having taken a close look at the finest jewellery that was on display, fine jewellery experts at Steven Stone have revealed everything you need to know about them.
Kate Middleton
Kate Middleton paid subtle tribute to two late royals through her coronation jewels – Queen Elizabeth II and Princess Diana.
Collingwood Diamond & Pearl Earrings: The Princess wore her Collingwood diamond and pearl earrings, which were a wedding gift from the London jeweller, Collingwood, when Princess Diana married the then Prince Charles. They were worn by Princess Diana on numerous occasions, both casual and formal.
Kate Middleton inherited the earrings, wearing them to honour her late mother-in-law at the Queen’s annual garden party at Buckingham Palace on 15th May 2019.
While pearls can vary in price, the ones featured in these earrings are of the highest quality as they are South Sea pearls. According to our experts, earrings like this would cost between £30,000 to £35,000 today.
Floral Headpiece: The coronation was a tiara free event. Thus, the Princess accessorised with a headpiece designed by Alexander McQueen in collaboration with milliner Jess Collett: a silver circlet made up of embroidered, three-dimensional leaf appliqués. Our experts estimate the unique piece to be worth approximately £32,000 ($40,000).
George VI Festoon Necklace: Last but certainly not least, the Princess paid a touching tribute to Queen Elizabeth II with a necklace that was gifted to the late monarch by her father in 1950. The dazzling piece features three strands of graduated collects suspended between two diamond triangles, with a single collet strand at the back. Noting the difficulty of putting a price on such a historic piece, our experts estimate it to be worth around £2.4 million ($3 million).
Queen Camilla
As well as St Mary’s crown and the Queen Consort’s ring that she was pretended with during the ceremony, Queen Camilla donned a necklace that was previously worn by Queen Elizabeth II, Queen Mary and Queen Alexandra.
Known as “the Coronation Necklace”, it was originally created for Queen Victoria in 1858 and is made of a total of 26 diamonds – including a giant 22.48-carat pendant called the Lahore diamond.
Our experts estimate the necklace to carry a value of £72,000 ($90,000).
Zara Tindall
Looking elegant in blue, Zara accesorised with Princess Anne’s diamond ribbon and tassel brooch, which resembles a rosette motif with delicate drop tassels.
The brooch was a wedding gift to the Princess Royal from her brother, King Charles III, when she married Captain Mark Phillips in November 1973.
Our experts estimate the sparkling piece to be worth £40,000 ($50,000).
Sophie Wessex
Sophie Wessex wore a stunning white Suzannah London gown with lace applique at the collar and a white floral fascinator.
In line with the Princess of Wales’ attire, the Duchess of Edinburgh also donned a blue and red cape over her gown, a nod to the colors of the union jack.
Sophie accesorised with a pair of diamond and sapphire drop earrings, set in white gold. According to our experts, the earrings are worth a staggering £250,000, which doesn’t come as a surprise as the bold sapphires total 4 carats and the diamonds total over 10 carats.
The Duchess has previously worn the dazzling earrings in Gibraltar during a royal visit to mark Queen Elizabeth II’s platinum jubilee – giving them a touch of sentimentality that has been heightened since the late monarch’s sad passing – and to last year’s Royal Variety Performance.
Princess Eugenie
Princess Eugenie accesorised her navy outfit with diamonds, wearing a diamond collar necklace and matching pair of earrings from Garrard’s Albemarle collection.
Contrasting round and geometric forms are juxtaposed with openwork diamond shapes in Eugenie’s necklace, with each imperceptibly joined to the next so that no space is visible in between. The graphic design is tempered by the softened edges of the necklace, which emphasise the beautiful, structured silhouette of this sleek statement jewel.
Featuring 834 round diamonds totaling 18.15 carats, the 18ct white gold necklace retails at £130,000. Featuring 208 round diamonds totaling 3.82 carats, Eugenie’s matching earrings retail at £26,000.
Princess Beatrice
Princess Beatrice doesn’t usually wear much jewellery, but she made an exception for the coronation.
The Princess accesorised her raspberry pink dress and golden headpiece with Garrard’s Blaze pink sapphire, rubellite and pink opal hoop earrings.
The 18ct rose gold earrings feature 52 pink sapphires totaling 2.94 carats, 14 rubellites totaling 6.98 carats and eight pink opals totaling 2.95 carats.
Introducing a new approach to a Garrard icon, the earrings retail at £30,833.
“The royal ladies sported a wealth of stunning jewels at the coronation of King Charles III – most of which were laced with history.
The most historic piece was the coronation necklace, which was worn by Queen Camilla. Worth £72k, it was previously worn by Queen Elizabeth II, Queen Mary and Queen Alexandra. Though Camilla wasn’t the only royal to pay tribute to Queen Elizabeth II – Kate Middleton wore a particularly sentimental necklace that belonged to the late monarch and Sophie Wessex donned a pair of sapphire earrings that she’d previously worn to celebrate the platinum jubilee.
Though it was her necklace that carried the highest value, it was Kate’s floral headpiece – designed by Alexander McQueen – that had everybody talking. I’d estimate the silver circlet made up of embroidered, three-dimensional leaf appliqués to be worth around £32k.
Despite being one of the least valuable pieces, one of our favourites was worn by Princess Anne’s daughter, Zara Tindall. Zara displayed her Mother’s diamond ribbon and tassel brooch, which oozes with sentiment as it was gifted to the Princess Royal on her wedding by non-other than King Charles III.
Though all royal pieces dazzle, they’re not all historic, with Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie’s jewellery choices being the perfect example – the royal sisters chose pieces from Garrard with substantial values. While Beatrice wore a diamond collar necklace and matching pair of earrings, Eugenie stunned in a pair of pink sapphire, rubellite and pink opal earrings.“
zack stone, leading diamond expert, steven stone
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@the_diamond_brothers Coronation Day Jewellery Inspiration 🇬🇧💍✨ Wishing his Majesty the best for his special day. God save the King! 👑 Give us a follow for more daily jewellery content! ❤️ #kingcharles #coronation #coronation2023 #royalfamily #sapphire #ruby #diamond #halo #jewellery #rings #bespoke #custom #bespokejewellery #giftidea #souvenir ♬ The Coronation – Casadesus, Gréco
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