Even if one doesn’t count the jewels that belong to the Crown, the jewelry that personally belongs to Queen Elizabeth II is abundant and priceless. Here are but a few of her best jewelry pieces:
Her Engagement Ring
When Prince Phillip became engaged to the then Princess Elizabeth shortly after World War II, he didn’t have a lot of money. Yet, his mother was a princess with her own stash of jewels, and he managed to fashion both an engagement ring and a wedding bracelet from jewels from her tiara. The engagement ring has a platinum band with eleven diamonds and a central diamond that weighs 3 carats. It is probably the one piece of jewelry that the Queen wears all the time besides her wedding ring. When she’s annoyed she tends to twist around her finger, which sends her staff scurrying.
The Cambridge Lover’s Knot Tiara
This tiara is made of pearls and diamonds and was designed by the Queen’s grandmother, Queen Mary, after a tiara owned by her own grandmother. This tiara has a band of diamonds and 19 open work arches encrusted with diamonds. Each arch holds a pearl drop from a lover’s knot, which is also encrusted with diamonds. In between each of the lover’s knots are diamond filled spikes topped by a single round diamond.
The Girls of Great Britain and Ireland Tiara
This beautiful tiara was raised via the lunch money of the aforementioned girls. It was originally a wedding present for Queen Mary, but the Queen is often seen wearing it at state occasions. It is made of diamond-filled festoons, scrolls and spikes. It has a detachable bandeau base made of round and lozenge-shaped collet diamonds between two narrow bands set with diamonds.
The Kokoshnik Tiara
This tiara is made in the style of a Russian girl’s headdress and was ordered by the Queen’s great-grandmother, Queen Alexandra, in 1888. She got the idea of the design from her sister Dagmar, who was the Empress of Russia. This tiara has 61 platinum bars encrusted with 488 diamonds. The central bar is the tallest and the bars gradually shorten as they go toward the back. The largest diamonds are in the largest bar and weigh 3.25 carats each.
Pear Drop Earrings
The Queen often wears these earrings. Each earring is a large, round cut diamond from which hangs another, smaller diamond from which hangs a very large pear-shaped diamond. The diamonds are set in gold.
The Saudi Arabian Necklaces
The Queen has at least two necklaces presented to her by Saudi Arabian kings during state visits. The King Faisal necklace is a fringe necklace made of drop diamonds, diamond baguettes and round cut brilliants. The King Khalid necklace has a sun ray design of pear-shaped and round diamonds. Both necklaces were made by Harry Winston.
The Kensington Bow Brooch
The Queen is fond of wearing brooches in the shape of bows or lovers’ knots, and this brooch belonged to Queen Mary. Again, it was a wedding gift. The bow is filled with diamonds, but its focal point is a huge oriental pearl that hangs from its center.