History of Famous Jewels and Collections
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    Re: Gloucester diamond and pearl brooch Archived Message

    Posted by Kongetro on August 23, 2018, 12:37 am, in reply to "Gloucester diamond and pearl brooch"

    To my eyes it looks like the pendants in the presentation case from the wedding are in fact diamonds. I could of course be very wrong (it has happened before). If so, maybe the Duchess liked swapping the diamonds with pearls every now and again?
    Previous Message

    The videos I watched yesterday showed Alice, Duchess of Gloucester wearing a brooch which was part of Queen Mary's wedding gift to her. Some of us think that this brooch originally belonged to Princess Helena, Princess Christian, daughter of Queen Victoria.

    Detail showing Princess Helena wearing the brooch.


    I have always found it difficult to decide if the brooch, when presented by Queen Mary, contained pearl or diamond drops.



    Today it is clear that the brooch has diamond pendants.



    When Bryce drew our attention to this video some time ago, I noticed that the brooch then (1956) had pearl pendants. Princess Alice can be seen between 0.31 and 0.34 minutes.





    As Princess Alice moves the pearls can be seen clearly. Below are some screenshots.





    I wonder when Princess Alice changed the pearls for diamonds - or even if the change is due to the current Duchess of Gloucester? Does anyone know?

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