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Queen Mary's aquamarines. Edited to change a photo.
Posted by Beth on June 26, 2021, 5:20 pm
Aquamarines are not a gemstone normally associated with Queen Mary; yet, she wore two aquamarine brooches and aquamarine earrings with some frequency.
There are any number of press reports of Queen Mary wearing aquamarine brooches, but rarely are there associated photos which would enable us to identify the brooches.
The key to identifying these jewels is a description in the press of the jewels Queen Mary wore to the first day of Ascot in 1934.
Fortunately, on this occasion, there were photos in the press which allowed me to identify better quality photos of HM's aquamarine brooches.
1934 press photo of HM at the first day of racing at Ascot in 1934.
There is also a Shutterstock photo of the event which allows for a more precise identification.
Detail from the 1934 Ascot meeting.
This allows us to see the distinctive shape and diamond setting of the aquamarine at HM's throat. I believe that the brooch on her hat is the one now worn by the Duchess of Cornwall which I identified some years ago from other photos.
Some of the earlier press descriptions of this brooch help to verify that the gemstone was an aquamarine.
1923
1928
Once seen, the distinctive border of small diamonds punctuated by larger diamonds at the cardinal points is easily recognised.
Queen Mary seems to have been fond of her aquamarines wearing them numerous times over the years. She seemed to favour them greatly for Cowes week.
Edited here to use more relevant images of Queen Mary.
1921
1931
The earliest date I have seen photos of Queen Mary wearing the square aquamarine brooch so far is 1917; however, I suspect that, if I did more searching, I would discover that she had the jewels much earlier.
1917.
I found that I needed to look very carefully at the detail of HM's brooches because, at times, poor photography combined with poor print reproduction results in indistinct images and it is easy to mistake the square aquamarine brooch for the pink topaz which is now used as a centre piece in the Gloucester Honeysuckle tiara.
For example in the photo below Queen Mary is wearing the pink topaz brooch at her throat.
As usual, I checked to see if any others had identified these brooches, as there is no sense in re-inventing the wheel or repeating research which has been done.
Very interesting, Beth. I agree this brooch has probably been identified as a pink topaz on other occasions, as we know the present whereabouts of the topaz brook now with the Gloucesters.
I know nothing on the aquamarine brooch you have identified, but I have a question on the clip brooches on your pic from Cowes (third last picture, from Getty). Could these be one of the several pairs of aquamarine clip brooches now with the present Queen?
I realised when I read Torkel's comment that I had selected the wrong image to show Queen Mary at Cowes, so I have done an edit.
This is the photo Torkel's query (seen below this) refers to.
According to Getty the image shows Queen Mary when she opened an extension to Newman College Cambridge on 12 August 1938.
I haven't had time to check in the newspapers to verify that date, but I assume it will be the correct year.
Like Torkel, I wondered about the jewels pinned to Queen Mary's hat and, like Torkel, I thought that they resembled the curved aquamarines worn by Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother.
I also have queries about the clips Queen Mary has pinned to the centre of her gown, as they seem different from her diamond clips and look as if they have coloured gemstones in places. But, I recognise that we are dealing with an old photograph where the details are not 100%.
I am still undecided whether what Queen Mary wore on her hat is the same as the curved clips worn by QEQM.
Query 1. Is the shape the same? I cannot decide.
Query 2. Was QEQM wearing one of the curved aquamarine clips in the image below? Once again, I cannot decide. If she is then it is unlikely that her clips came from Queen Mary as the image below of QEQM is definitely from 1932. The photo of Queen Mary above is dated 1938 by Getty.
Another possibility which has crossed my mind is that Queen Mary may have had narrow clips featuring aquamarines.
I haven't yet identified the brooch Queen Mary wore when the photo below was taken; however, I assume that the narrow bar brooch pinned lower on her bodice will feature the same coloured stones as the brooch. I am just using this as an illustration to show that, for at least one type of gemstone, Queen Mary had a bar brooch featuring the same gemstone.
Can anyone identify this brooch?
Detail
Previous Message
Very interesting, Beth. I agree this brooch has probably been identified as a pink topaz on other occasions, as we know the present whereabouts of the topaz brook now with the Gloucesters.
I know nothing on the aquamarine brooch you have identified, but I have a question on the clip brooches on your pic from Cowes (third last picture, from Getty). Could these be one of the several pairs of aquamarine clip brooches now with the present Queen?
Now that you have suggested that 992234177 I can only marvel that I did not recognise the brooch!! I hope I am not becoming feeble minded! Many thanks.
Now I wonder if the bar brooch pinned at an angle on Queen Mary's dress was made of coloured stones or plain diamonds?
I missed the post about the aquamarine brooch worn by the Duchess of Cornwall being from Queen Mary and can't find it using the search, do you have a link to it that you could post please?
Previous Message
I believe that the brooch on her hat is the one now worn by the Duchess of Cornwall which I identified some years ago from other photos.
I posted that information on the Royal Jewels of the World Message board some years ago.
Since the board's subscription lapsed a while ago, links to a lot of the posts have been lost. While it is still possible to trace those posts, it takes quite a bit of effort. I have given up tonight.
Below is the brooch worn by the Duchess of Cornwall.
Below is one image of Queen Mary wearing (I think) the same brooch.
I believe that Queen Mary had another aquamarine brooch which has since been worn by QEII, but I won't confuse the issue by posting it now.
Previous Message
I missed the post about the aquamarine brooch worn by the Duchess of Cornwall being from Queen Mary and can't find it using the search, do you have a link to it that you could post please?
Previous Message
I believe that the brooch on her hat is the one now worn by the Duchess of Cornwall which I identified some years ago from other photos.
Thanks Beth, Queen Mary's trove of treasures matched the I believe the Romanov grand ladies and her present granddaughter the Queen seems to still retain most of them as a legacy. I at times can't decide if her or her mother in law QA owned the grandest of jewels. I await to see an outing of this aquamarine jewel
Regards,
Dave.
Previous Message
Aquamarines are not a gemstone normally associated with Queen Mary; yet, she wore two aquamarine brooches and aquamarine earrings with some frequency.
There are any number of press reports of Queen Mary wearing aquamarine brooches, but rarely are there associated photos which would enable us to identify the brooches.
The key to identifying these jewels is a description in the press of the jewels Queen Mary wore to the first day of Ascot in 1934.
Fortunately, on this occasion, there were photos in the press which allowed me to identify better quality photos of HM's aquamarine brooches.
1934 press photo of HM at the first day of racing at Ascot in 1934.
There is also a Shutterstock photo of the event which allows for a more precise identification.
Detail from the 1934 Ascot meeting.
This allows us to see the distinctive shape and diamond setting of the aquamarine at HM's throat. I believe that the brooch on her hat is the one now worn by the Duchess of Cornwall which I identified some years ago from other photos.
Some of the earlier press descriptions of this brooch help to verify that the gemstone was an aquamarine.
1923
1928
Once seen, the distinctive border of small diamonds punctuated by larger diamonds at the cardinal points is easily recognised.
Queen Mary seems to have been fond of her aquamarines wearing them numerous times over the years. She seemed to favour them greatly for Cowes week.
Edited here to use more relevant images of Queen Mary. 1921 1931
The earliest date I have seen photos of Queen Mary wearing the square aquamarine brooch so far is 1917; however, I suspect that, if I did more searching, I would discover that she had the jewels much earlier.
1917.
I found that I needed to look very carefully at the detail of HM's brooches because, at times, poor photography combined with poor print reproduction results in indistinct images and it is easy to mistake the square aquamarine brooch for the pink topaz which is now used as a centre piece in the Gloucester Honeysuckle tiara.
For example in the photo below Queen Mary is wearing the pink topaz brooch at her throat.
As usual, I checked to see if any others had identified these brooches, as there is no sense in re-inventing the wheel or repeating research which has been done.
on June 26, 2021, 5:20 pm
Previous Message
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