The Williamson Pink Diamond Cartier Brooch
Anyone else love the Queen’s Williamson #diamondbrooch? Made 68 years ago by Cartier London, it’s mounted in platinum and comprised of many diamonds of different cuts (brilliants, baguettes and marquises), including one of the finest #pinkdiamonds in existence. It was such fun to go behind the scenes of this piece in The Cartiers and the British Royal Family online lecture with @caroline.de.g as we travelled from 1937, when an 11-year-old Princess Elizabeth was awed by “a sort of haze of wonder as Papa was crowned”, through to this 2009 meeting between Her Majesty and the Obamas.
The story of this brooch started in 1947 when #PrincessElizabeth received a special wedding gift from the Canadian monarchist Dr Williamson: an enormous 54.5 ct rough pink diamond (soon after cut into a 23.6 ct brilliant). A few years later (the delay is explained in the webinar), the gleaming pink diamond was deposited at #175NewBondStreet for the Cartier London team to work their magic.
It was a process that involved many skilled individuals: First, up on the top floor, the firm’s head designer #FrederickMew worked on pencil sketches which were then whittled down to a few workable designs. Each one was painted, life-size and once approved, the final design was passed downstairs to the expert mounters, setters and polishers in the #EnglishArtWorks workshop. Finally, down one level more, #JeanJacquesCartier would closely inspect the finished creation, checking each diamond was angled in just the right way to catch the light, ensuring the back of the jewel was as perfect as the front, and the clasp was strong, secure and discreet.
Worn by #HerMajestyTheQueen many times over the decades, usually with pearls (eg. image 2: a 1954 portrait with a young Prince Charles and Princess Anne) - I think the #WilliamsonBrooch so perfectly epitomises Pierre Cartier’s belief that “a jewel which is classic in design, which contains stones of good quality, always remains an object of beauty” Do you agree? I particularly love the little details, like how the petals curl at the edges, and the marquise diamonds make the most perfect buds on the baguette-diamond stem…