Queen Mary’s Russian Sapphire Cluster Brooch

Yesterday, Queen Camilla wore a spectacular heirloom Sapphire and Diamond Brooch for the first time for the Commonwealth Day Service at Westminster Abbey. The massive Sapphire Brooch, which has a disputed provenance, has been an heirloom of the British Royal Family for almost nine decades, so thus we are featuring Queen Mary’s Russian Sapphire Cluster Brooch!

Featuring a massive faceted sapphire surrounded by an ornate gold frame and eighteen cut diamonds, this brooch supposedly originates from the Imperial Russian Court of the 1840s, made to be worn as a brooch as well as to be used as the clasp of pearl necklaces and bracelets.

Possibly made in the 1840s, the brooch may have been among the sapphires given as a wedding gift of Princess Marie of Hesse when she married the future Tsar Alexander II of Russia, and were later made into a parure for Empress Maria Feodorovna of Russia for the Wedding of Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh and Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna of Russia in 1874. While it is speculated that the Brooch was among the jewels that Empress Maria Feodorovna took into exile, it is more likely that a jewel of this size was left in Russia, confiscated by the Bolsheviks, and sold by them.

In 1934, Queen Mary acquired this Russian Sapphire Cluster Brooch, supposedly from the estate of Empress Maria Feodorovna of Russia, like several sapphire jewels including Empress Maria Feodorovna’s Sapphire Choker, though it could also be the ‘brooch with a sapphire set in the centre surrounded by a double row of diamonds’ from a London Jeweller, possibly from the estate of Baroness Angela Burdett-Coutts (as reported by British Royal Jewels). Another alternative could be that the Brooch had an Imperial Russian provenance and was sold by the Bolsheviks to the London Jeweller where it was acquired by Queen Mary. Another identical Brooch with an Imperial Russian provenance was sold at Christie’s in 2011.

Queen Mary notably wore the Russian Sapphire Cluster Brooch for a portrait with the Gloucester Honeysuckle Tiara, that had Prince Albert’s Sapphire Brooch in the central element, in the 1930s, and in another portrait with Empress Maria Feodorovna’s Sapphire Choker.

After Queen Mary’s death in 1953, the Russian Sapphire Cluster Brooch was among the jewels inherited by her daughter-in-law, Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother, who began to wear the piece in the 1950s, for a variety of daytime occasions.

The Queen Mother also wore the Russian Sapphire Cluster Brooch with her Sapphire Fringe Earrings for several evening occasions from the 1950s up to the 1980s. Another notable appearance of the brooch came when her grandson, David Armstrong-Jones, Viscount Linley, now the 2nd Earl of Snowdon, was presented in 1961.

The Queen Mother continued to wear Queen Mary’s Russian Sapphire Cluster Brooch in her later years, with a notable appearence on her birthday in 1978, and for a visit to Venice in 1984, which was her last foreign visit.

Today The Queen is wearing a diamond and sapphire brooch purchased by Queen Mary in 1934 and later owned by The Queen Mother #QueeninRome
— The Royal Family (@RoyalFamily) April 3, 2014

The #QueeninRome meeting @Pontifex at the Vatican City earlier today: pic.twitter.com/eiJaUVQFHe
— The Royal Family (@RoyalFamily) April 3, 2014

After the Queen Mother’s death in 2002, all of her jewels, including Queen Mary’s Russian Sapphire Cluster Brooch, were inherited by Queen Elizabeth II, who wore the Brooch for the first time on a visit to Rome and the Vatican in 2014, when it was tweeted by the Palace:

Today The Queen is wearing a diamond and sapphire brooch purchased by Queen Mary in 1934 and later owned by The Queen Mother

The Queen also wore Queen Mary’s Russian Sapphire Cluster Brooch on the back of her sash of the Order of the Garter, with the the Belgian Sapphire Tiara and the King George VI Sapphire Suite for the Chinese State Banquet at Buckingham Palace.

Yesterday, Queen Camilla wore Queen Mary’s Russian Sapphire Cluster Brooch for the first time for the Commonwealth Day Service at Westminster Abbey, which reflects her recent trend of wearing sapphires, like the Belgian Sapphire Tiara and the King George VI Sapphire Suite. There is no doubt we will continue to see this spectacular heirloom for years to come!