Wednesday, May 8, 2013

Mastery of Design: Queen Alexandra’s Diamond and Gold Bracelet



A Gold Bracelet with a Diamond and Enamel Buckle
Garrard & Co., 1830
The Royal Collection
This beautiful bracelet of gold, diamonds and cobalt blue enamel appears to be a marriage of several older pieces of jewelry which were assembled by the Royal jewelers at Garrard & Co. The centerpiece of the bracelet is an enamel buckle set with diamonds forming a pattern of ostrich feathers--the symbol of The Prince of Wales—and appears to date to the time of King William IV--Queen Victoria's predecessor.


The finished bracelet was a gift to Princess Alexandra of Denmark from the Duke of Cambridge, Queen Victoria's first cousin and nephew of King William IV. The bracelet likely symbolized Alexandra's marriage to the Prince of Wales, long before they would become King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra.

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