Showing posts with label Cosmos Clip Brooches. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Cosmos Clip Brooches. Show all posts

20 October 2015

State Visit from China, Welcome Ceremony

The Queen and other members of the Royal Family welcomed the President of The People’s Republic of China, Mr. Xi Jinping, and Madame Peng Liyuan at the start of his State Visit to the United Kingdom.
Obviously, I find this lilac gray Stewart Parvin tweed coat and Rachel Trevor-Morgan hat would have been enhanced by a touch of amethysts, but that's how I always feel, so never mind me. Instead, we get the Modern Ruby Brooch to kick off this much-anticipated (and controversial) state visit.

Three Strand Pearl Necklace


The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall met the Chinese first couple at their hotel and escorted them to the welcome ceremony today.

It was nice to see The Duchess in a suite of jewels we've covered here before, including regular favorites in the form of her Everyday Pearl Pendant Earrings, her Gold Chain Bracelet with Multi-Color Stones, and her Four Strand Pearl Choker with Small Diamond Clasp. She also wore her pair of Cosmos Brooches from Van Cleef & Arpels.


UPDATES:
Back at Buckingham Palace, the traditional exchange of gifts occurred. The Queen gave the Chinese president a collection of Shakespeare's sonnets in a specially commissioned leather and gilt box and a pair of Royal Crown Derby candlesticks for Madame Peng, in addition to the standard gift of a silver-framed set of portraits of The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh. From President Xi, The Queen received two of Madame Peng's albums (she's a famous folk singer in China) along with a 1.18 meter long work of embroidery, a stamp booklet, and a wood carving.

The President and Madame Peng joined The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall for tea at Clarence House, where Camilla changed into her pearl choker with an Art Deco sapphire clasp, the newest addition to her choker collection.

The Duke of Cambridge also met with the President today, at Buckingham Palace.


And The Queen inspected the scene for the state banquet, as she always does! Updated to add: In this Flickr behind-the-scenes gallery, we can identify The Queen's brooch as the Flower Basket Brooch.


Stay tuned for another post later for tonight's state banquet.

Photos: via Getty Images
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17 September 2015

The Duchess of Cornwall’s Cosmos Clip Brooches and Earrings

The Duchess of Cornwall's Cosmos Clip Brooches (Examples)
The Van Cleef & Arpels Cosmos collection is built around one of the famed jeweler’s classic designs, a combination of a four leaf clover and a flower that dates back to the 1950s. These four petal flowers are handmade in a variety of jewelry types and in different sizes and materials. The Duchess of Cornwall has two of the Cosmos clip brooches in her collection.
Both of her clips are the same design, with heart-shaped petals, a stem paved in round diamonds, and the largest round diamond sitting in the center of the petals, but one is set in yellow gold and one is set in white gold. The Cosmos clips come in three sizes (small, medium, large) and I believe Camilla’s clips are the large size, which would have 101 diamonds apiece. The clips shown as examples here are from the range that is currently for sale, and they can also be used as pendants on a chain, but The Duchess uses hers solely as brooches. 

These have been a part of her personal collection (presumably) since at least 2005, when they appeared at Ascot. She usually wears them together on one shoulder, occasionally splitting them up on her lapels or wearing just one at a time.

Top: Medium earclips, yellow gold setting. Bottom: Large earclips, white gold setting, approx. 6.8 carats total.
At a 2005 garden party (shown above), she also wore matching Cosmos earrings. Like the brooches, the earrings are available in a variety of materials and three different sizes; I believe she wore either the medium or large size, and again the diamond version.
The earrings are scarcely seen (in fact, I’m not sure they’ve been spotted in her ears since that 2005 outing), but I think she may have worn one of them as a brooch when attending the 2011 wedding of The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge (above). For that appearance, the lower brooch was smaller and without a stem, perhaps a smaller size brooch or maybe an earring repurposed. Most of the time, though, she wears the matched brooch set, and they make regular appearances.

You can see a video on the history of the Cosmos collection here.

Appearances:
17 June 2017: Trooping the Colour
9 March 2016: Clarence House Reception for Women of the World
20 October 2015: State Visit from China, Welcome Ceremony
2011: Wedding of The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge 

Photos: Van Cleef & Arpels, Clarence House, and via Getty Images
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