For
today’s Fashion Friday, I wanted to brooch
a subject that I personally love – BROOCHES! Not only do I love the extra bling a brooch provides, but I love the story behind the pins. My budding collection is above!
I
like to think that this trend is being led by Her Majesty of Brooches – Queen
Elizabeth – as she celebrates her Jubilee and the upcoming summer Olympics. Oh
and we can’t forget Kate Middleton too. That girl has been rocking pins since
her Canadian tour last summer.
I was
reading up on the Queen’s brooch collection and some of the pins have great
stories behind them. Here’s a little history lesson to make you sound super
smart during the Jubilee!
Back
in 1905, a man by the name of Fredrick Wells discovered a 3,106 carat diamond
near a mine in South Africa. Yes, Beyonce, this ROCK weighed more than a pound.
The HUGE diamond was named after Sir Thomas Cullinan who opened the mine. So
when you find something this huge, you’ve got to sell it – which is exactly
what happened here. The diamond was sold
to the Transvaal government and then presented to King Edward VII on his 66th
birthday in November 1907 (making everyone else’s birthday presents look
pathetic). Being a nice guy, Eddy had the rock cut into a plethora of pieces that
would then be featured in crowns, jewelry and several brooches.
Sources:
Fabulous
Diamonds and Wikipedia
The most
famous cuts from the Cullinan are III and IV. The pear shaped 94.9 carat
diamond is known as Cullinan III, while the 63.6 square-cut diamond is IV.
Queen Mary rocked this rock a number of fashion forward ways – on a crown,
lower on a sash, as a brooch, etc. Queen E rarely wears it, but when she does,
she typically sports it as a regular brooch. It’s also known as “Granny’s Chips”
because it’s made from “chips” of the larger Cullinan Diamond. (Source: Royal
Order of Spendor)
If
you are wondering, the value of this brooch is £50,000,000
– OR 80.83 MILLION DOLLARS.
You
often see the Queen wearing the Flower Basket Brooch (top right). I like the
simple story behind this one. It was presented to E to mark the birth of Prince
Charles – a fancy push present! (Sources: Royal-Jewels
and photo from Royal
Collection)
Speaking
of milestone presents the Williamson Diamond Brooch (bottom right), featuring a
23.6 carat pink diamond (in the center), was gifted to Princess Elizabeth in
1947 as a wedding gift. It was later cut and set by Cartier in 1952. (Source: Royal
Collection)
To
the left of the Williamson Brooch is one of many bow brooches E has in her jewelry
box (er, vault). This is the Lovers Knot and a piece from Queen Victoria’s bow
collection. The Queen V bows feature a trio of brooches. (Sources: Royal
Collection and Royal
Order of Splendor)
There
are SO MANY more jewels that I could include here, but the last one that I wanted
to share is Prince Albert’s Sapphire. It’s also known as Queen Victoria’s
Wedding Brooch – as it was presented to V the day before her wedding…in 1840. This
fabulous brooch has been passed down through the generations and is often worn
by E (I think because it’s so patriotic!)
Whether
its Queen E or Kate Middleton leading the brooch revival (it was also all over
the runway a few years back), celebrities are now hopping on the train, which
means next up is us average style-obsessed consumers.
Here
are some stars rocking brooches in a variety of ways:
Here
are some brooches that you may consider adding to your collection.
When
B and I made our marriage official, I knew that I wanted to do something to
personalize by bridesmaids bouquets, while adding a little bling. So I set out
on a missing to find brooches that matched their personality or an inside joke
that we shared. The brooches were then used on their bouquet as well as mine
(the martini glass was “something borrowed” from my godmother!).
While
they all held special meaning to the bridesmaid, one that I especially adored
was my friend Melissa’s. She loves Kennywood (a local amusement park) and I was
able to find an amusement park brooch! I picked up most of the bling from the
garment district of New York while on a business trip!
(Photos from the fabulous Studio Bash)
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