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The Queen departed King's Lynn via train at the end of her Sandringham break.

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Her scarf collection is nearly as well coordinated as her umbrella collection. (Fun fact: she wore the same brooch when leaving Sandringham last year.)

Pearl Trefoil Brooch

Three Strand Pearl Necklace

The Queen’s Top Five Sapphires: #1. Prince Albert’s Sapphire Brooch

We've reached the day of Her Majesty's Sapphire Jubilee and we've reached the end of our countdown of her top five sapphire jewels! You'll never guess what lands on top.

Royal Collection/HM Queen Elizabeth II

I know, it's a shocker. Really, there's only one it could be: Prince Albert's Sapphire Brooch.

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This brooch has everything! It's got the history: Prince Albert gave it to Queen Victoria the day before their wedding, and she wore it on the big day. She made it an heirloom of the crown and it has passed down through further generations of queens. It's got the size: the central sapphire is large and so much the star of the show that it can even make you forget just how large the twelve surrounding diamonds are.

Prime Minister's Office/Crown Copyright

And it's got the usage: this is probably the most significant piece of jewelry worn on a regular basis by The Queen. There are larger jewels, there are others that date back to Queen Victoria and even a few that go back even further; none, however, are worn as often as Albert's Sapphire and most are not this well known. What else could top a list of Her Majesty's top sapphire jewels?

(Really, what else? Share your personal top five in the comments!)

Church in Norfolk

The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh attended church at West Newton, Norfolk, near the Sandringham estate.

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It's an early first appearance for the Cullinan V for the year, no complaints here. (Sapphires would've just too easy, you know.)

Cullinan V Brooch

Queen Mary's Button Earrings

Three Strand Pearl Necklace

The Queen’s Top Five Sapphires: #2. The George VI and Modern Sapphire Set

The most luscious set of sapphires at The Queen's disposal also might be the one with the greatest personal significance. King George VI had an eye for sapphires, purchasing them often for his wife. The mid-19th century necklace and earrings he gifted to his eldest daughter for her wedding have to be the most impressive ones he acquired. The Queen shortened the necklace, created a pendant for it from one of the extra links, and wore it regularly.

Library and Archives Canada, e010994340, via Creative Commons

She added to the set in 1963, acquiring a tiara and a bracelet. Neither the tiara (which is a converted necklace/dress ornament with a royal history of its own) nor the bracelet are precise matches to the style of the original demi-parure, and yet they make a decent assembled parure. As a personal gift, an example of the jewels that The Queen has added to jewel vault during her reign, and as her largest parure of sapphires, the George VI and Modern Sapphire Set deserves its high place on my list of Her Majesty's top sapphires.

The Queen’s Top Five Sapphires: #3. Empress Marie Feodorovna’s Sapphire Brooch

No list of The Queen's top jewels - of any variety - would be complete without adequate representation of Queen Mary's contributions to the royal jewel vault. Empress Marie Feodorovna's Sapphire Brooch, an oval cabochon sapphire surrounded by diamonds and finished with a detachable pendant pearl, was among the jewels Queen Mary purchased from the collection of Empress Marie Feodorovna.

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The jewel has more than a connection to Queen Mary, though. The Empress, who was born Princess Dagmar of Denmark, originally received the brooch as a wedding gift from her sister and brother-in-law, The Prince and Princess of Wales (later King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra, Mary's parents-in-law). There are other sapphire brooches at The Queen's disposal with connections to Queen Mary and the Russian relatives (Queen Mary's Russian Brooch, the Russian Sapphire Cluster Brooch), but the double significance and higher public profile of this brooch launches it onto my list of The Queen's top sapphires.

The Queen’s Top Five Sapphires: #4. The Dubai Looped Sapphire Demi-Parure

The Dubai Looped Sapphire Demi-Parure has multiple large sapphires with enough carat wattage to earn a place on my list of The Queen’s top sapphires alone. It’s also a handy little representative for the impressive amounts of jewelry Her Majesty has been given over the course of her reign – and for the ways in which she deals with those jewels.

Sheikh Rashid of Dubai gifted this diamond and sapphire set to The Queen during her 1979 Middle East tour. It originally included a necklace, earrings, and a ring. And here’s where we learn about how she handles these things: she wore the pieces as they were originally given first, and after a period of time, she altered the set to suit her own tastes. The necklace was shortened (as she often does with necklaces), the extra links made smaller earrings, and the ring and original earrings (all larger than what she normally wears) made a bracelet. She turned the set into something she could comfortably wear more often while still respecting its origins, and she’s delighted in these big sapphires ever since.

The Queen’s Top Five Sapphires: #5. The Sapphire Chrysanthemum Brooch

The Queen’s Sapphire Jubilee, marking an incredible 65 years on the throne, is on February 6. We’d be remiss if we didn’t use the opportunity to take a look at some of the top sapphires in her collection, so we’ll be counting down the top five (according to, well, me) starting today. 

So what qualifies something as a top sapphire jewel? History, absolutely; size, sure. But the jewels I’ve picked for this list also represent different sides of The Queen’s jewel vault. The Sapphire Chrysanthemum Brooch isn’t an enormous piece. It isn’t one of the more recognizable pieces, either.

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Given to The Queen in 1946 for a ship christening, the Sapphire Chrysanthemum Brooch both represents the importance of the pieces she had when her jewel collection was significantly smaller (she wore this brooch all the time in her Princess Elizabeth days) as well as her tendency to continue using those early favorites even as her vault grew more and more packed.

The casual observer of Her Majesty’s jewels might not recognize this brooch until you point out all the notable moments it was worn for, including Princess Anne’s christening and the photographs taken when the young Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh where on their honeymoon. The Queen made sure to match it when they adorably recreated that moment to mark their 60th wedding anniversary. That alone makes it worthy of a place on this list. (Speaking of jubilees, these two kids will hit 70 years of marriage later this year!)