city of london necklace
Elizabeth II

The City of London Necklace

The City of London necklace has “56 graduated bars, set with a variety of brilliant-cut, cushion-cut and pear-shaped stones, divided by narrow graduated brilliant-set spikes.” The necklace is very similar in design to Queen Mary’s Fringe Tiara. It was a wedding present to the then Princess Elizabeth in 1947 from the Lord Mayor of London, [read more]

nizam of hyderabad
Elizabeth II

The Nizam of Hyderabad Necklace

The then Princess Elizabeth received the Nizam of Hyderabad necklace as a wedding present by the Nizam of Hyderabad, together with a tiara. The Nizam, who did not come over for the wedding itself, gave instructions to Cartier that Princess Elizabeth could choose whatever she wanted. The necklace she picked originally came into Cartier’s stock [read more]

The Flame-lily Brooch
Elizabeth II

The Flame-lily Brooch

The Flame-lily brooch was a present to the then Princess Elizabeth from schoolchildren in Southern Rhodesia (now known as Zimbabwe). The schoolchildren had each donated a ticket (three old pence). The brooch was designed by Len Bell from the Salisbury (Harare) jeweller and then made by jeweller Eric H.S. Kippin, who had trained at Cartier. The [read more]