In honour of aquamarine being the birthstone of March, we here at the Royal Post thought it would be interesting to focus on tiaras that feature aquamarines. This post will focus on Queen Elizabeth’s Aquamarine Tiara and her Boucheron Diamond Clips, and we have a couple of more posts to follow on other aquamarine tiaras. Stay tuned!!
Queen Elizabeth’s Brazilian Aquamarine and Diamond Parure and the Boucheron Diamond Clips
This is a modern tiara story. In 1953 Queen Elizabeth was given a necklace and matching pendant earrings in aquamarine, diamonds and platinum by the President and People of Brazil, as a Coronation gift. It had taken well over a year to locate the perfectly matching aquamarines that are featured in the pendant earrings, as well as the nine oblong aquamarines in the necklace and even larger aquamarine in the necklace pendant. They were made by Mappin & Webb, Rio de Janeiro in 1953. These are very large aquamarines and they certainly make an impression! Queen Elizabeth has now altered the pendant drop so it is a detachable and slightly aquamarine surrounded by a cluster of diamonds.
Queen Elizabeth so liked this aquamarine set that in 1957 she commissioned Garrards & Co, London to create a matching tiara for her. This tiara originally was in the form of a bandeau with 3 upright detachable aquamarines (they could also be worn as brooches), on a platinum band. The central large aquamarine was the original necklace pendant drop given to the Queen in 1953. Queen Elizabeth had the tiara redesigned in 1971. It was believed that she had incorporated pieces from a smaller aquamarine tiara gifted to her by the Governor of São Paulo in 1968.
Here’s Queen Elizabeth wearing the aquamarine tiara from the Governor of São Paulo, which Sophie, Countess of Wessex wore to the wedding of Prince Guillaume of Luxembourg and Countess Stephanie Lannoy in October 2012. Click here for our post on that wedding!
Here’s Queen Elizabeth wearing the original tiara in bandeau form, with the matching pendant earrings and necklace
Here you can see Queen Elizabeth wearing the tiara in its original form and the altered final form. Note that in the first photo, you can also see the original, unaltered form of the necklace. The final, altered form is in the second photo.
Here’s a photo showing the HM Queen Elizabeth wearing the necklace without the detachable pendant
Here’s Queen Elizabeth wearing the altered and final version of the tiara
The Brazilian Aquamarine and Diamond Bracelet was given to her by the Government of Brazil in 1958 to complete the original coronation set. The bracelet consisted of seven oblong aquamarines with diamonds – it was later shortened to five aquamarines with diamonds.
At the same time, the Government of Brazil finished the Parure by contributing the Brazilian Aquamarine and Diamond Brooch.
Queen Elizabeth wears other pieces of aquamarine jewelry, including the Boucheron Aquamarine and Diamond-Clip Brooches given to her in 1944 as an eighteenth birthday present by her parents, King George VI and Queen Elizabeth. HM The Queen often wears the Boucheron clips. They seem to be a favourite of hers!
Here is HM Queen Elizabeth wearing the Boucheron Aquamarine and Diamond Clips during her and HRH Prince Philip’s historic visit to Ireland in 2011:
Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth decked out at Buckingham Palace, March 2006
Stay tuned for an upcoming post on HRH Princess Anne’s Cartier Aquamarine Pineflower Tiara…
Categories: British Royal Family, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth, Royal Jewels, Tiaras
The Royal Post 
Excellent article! Loved all the photos with it. Now I need some aquamarine. 😉
I do like this tiara in the altered form and when the Queen wore it when she was younger and brunette.
I’m not a fan of the original tiara design (although undoubtedly, with it’s distinctly South American influenced design, the people of Brazil would find it beautiful).
Also, once the Queen’s hair had silvered, this tiara does not seem to have the charm that it previously did.
that article is great…i like that jewelry..they very beautiful..thanks
Hey there! I’ve been following your site for a long time now and finally got the bravery to go ahead and give you a shout out from Dallas Tx! Just wanted to say keep up the great job!
An outstanding share! I have just forwarded this onto a coworker who had been doing
a little homework on this. And he actually ordered me breakfast because I stumbled upon it for him…
lol. So allow me to reword this…. Thank YOU for the meal!!
But yeah, thanks for spending the time to talk about this issue here on your web page.