[Edit: I have removed the reference to Laura's post in the text below as there is some confusion. Any comments I make are, of course, solely mine, and I accept that I might be inaccurate.

I would, nevertheless, like to acknowledge that Laura was the first to mention the ring and what Francesca Cartier Brickell said in the webinar. For Laura's post see https://mb.boardhost.com/historyroyaljewels/msg/1612651664.html ]

I think it has long been widely known that the sapphire and diamond ring given by George, Duke of Kent to Princess Marina as an engagement ring was made by Cartier.

Some years ago, as a matter of interest, I posted the following two photos on the RJWMB.





What interests me is that Francesca Cartier Brickell said in the recent webinar on the Cartiers and the British Royals that Cartier knew of the engagement before the press. I don't recollect the exact words used and now cannot check as the video has been removed from You Tube.


This version of events differs markedly from what was published in the UK press in September 1934, the engagement having been announced in late August 1934.

At the time of the engagement some press reports stated that Prince George had given Princess Marina a ring at the time, but it was expected that the official engagement ring would be made in England later.



Other newspapers, in light of no official comment, were fence sitting and hedging their bets on whether a ring was given or not. Some said no ring was given.



Photographs of the couple the day after were no help to the curious as Princess Marina was wearing gloves.



After Prince George returned to London on 12 September, most of the media reported that he almost immediately went to Cartier where he spent time looking at stones and rings, and chose a Kashmir sapphire which was to be set flanked by two diamonds in a platinum mount.





The next significant items in the press were the reports that Prince George presented the completed ring to Princess Marina after she arrived in the UK with her parents on 16 September.

When Princess Marina arrived in Scotland on 17 September she was wearing gloves and so the press did not initially get to see the ring.



It was only during the photos taken at Balmoral later that day that the press got a distant look at the ring.



If the stone was chosen on 12 September and the ring presented on either 16 or 17 September would that be sufficient time for the ring to be made? Or does that indicate that the media was being fed a story about the ring?

The information from the webinar on Cartier and the British Royals would suggest the latter. But is that necessarily, entirely correct?

First, a ring could have been made within 3-4 or 5 days, as the setting is very simple.

It is also entirely possible that Prince George, anticipating an acceptance to his proposal, might have asked Cartier to start looking for suitable gemstones and/or an already made ring.

I would love to know what the precise details of the situation were. Does anyone know if there is any more detail in the book on the Cartiers by Francesca Cartier Brickell?