The Jewels Of
The British Monarchs Part III An
Affair To Remember By: Ms Nandita Ray
"An Affair to Remember" is the
fairy tale romance and life of the
King of England who willingly
abdicated his throne for Wallis
Simpson, an American divorcee.
He married her much against the
wishes of the Church and his Royal
family since he felt he could not
"live without her". We have yet to
find such a worthy lover, selfless
and chivalrous who made sure she
lived in a style befitting a queen.
The Duchess of Windsor had the best
collection of jewelry amongst the
British Royalty. Most of the jewelry
owned by reigning monarchs and their
consorts were not personally owned
by them. They belonged and still
belong to the State. But the Duchess
of Windsor owned a huge collection
of personal jewelry. It was
eventually sold by Sotheby's in
Geneva, after her death.
Helping them acquire the vast
collection of specially designed
jewelry were some famous Design
Houses like Van Cleef and Arpels,
Cartier and Harry Winston, the
American Jeweler famous for
introducing fine quality diamonds
and donating the Hope Diamond to the
Smithsonian Museum.
Harry Winston -It is
difficult to write about Wallis's
jewelry collection. I do not know
where to begin. I shall, therefore
start with the story about the
anklet turned necklace belonging to
the Maharaja of Baroda. The Maharaja
sold the anklets to Harry Winston.
This in turn was sold to the
Windsors in 1953 by Harry. When
Wallis Simpson learnt that it was
actually an anklet worn by the
Maharani of Baroda, she refused to
wear it. In 1948, he sold to them a
pair of fancy yellow diamonds
weighing 40.81 carats and 52.13
carats respectively. They were pear
shaped and were designed into lapel
pins. He also sold two brilliant cut
yellow diamonds 5.17 and 5.18 carats
respectively and was made into
earrings to match the pins. Also
sold to her were two cushion shaped
diamonds which Harry Winston
purchased from the famous Evalyn
Walsh Mc Lean, the spirited daughter
of an Irish immigrant, spoilt by her
dad's fortune, and a collector of
jewelry and owner of the Hope
diamond. They were 31.26 carats and
were D color. It is believed that
they were mined from Golconda Mines.
The India necklace made with emerald
and rose color diamonds were sold to
the Windsor in 1956.This necklace
could be worn as a single string or
as a two row choker. In its true
form it is a bib necklace.
The Duchess inherited from
her mother in law Queen Mary a
single row of pearls, 28 pearls,
luminous and globular with a diamond
clasp which contains 9.190.6 grain
pearl topped by diamonds. A domical
pendant topped with a diamond ring
keeps it suspended at the centre.
Van Cleef and Arpels -The
invisible setting by Van Cleef and
Arpels, made for her became quite
famous and they used this technique
for crafting a clip of rubies and
diamonds as two "conjoined Holly
Leaves". To match this they also
made a ruby and diamond bracelet in
1936. This was designed by Paulette,
their famous senior designer. This
famous pin or brooch is a simple
design, two serrated, unmatched
Holly leaves placed besides each
other, one made up of rubies the
other of diamonds. The left leaf is
made up of diamonds while the one on
the right hand side is made up of
rubies. The vein of each leaf is
made up a single row of thin
baguette diamonds. The contrast of
white and red makes it a 'piece de
resistance'. This has invisible
setting as the stones are held by
small grooves at the back and no
gold is visible from the front. This
six inch long pin was special as the
Duke gave this to her on Christmas
when they were not together. It was
designed by Lacaze.
The Ruby and diamond bracelet
designed by Van Cleef and Arpels has
40 Burmese rubies. The bracelet is a
simple and smart design with the
inscription" Hold tight", the Duke's
favorite phrase. This was presented
to Wallis by the Duke, when he asked
her present husband, Ernest Simpson
to get a divorce from Wallis so that
they could marry. The matching
necklace has bunches of rubies with
strands of diamonds placed at
intervals. The ruby and diamond
necklace given by the duke was
designed by Lacaze. It was reset in
1939 when it was made into a collar
and had a tassel which could be
unhinged when required added. The
matching earrings were also
upgraded. A view of the photograph
can be had at their archive.
Also designed by Van Cleef and
Arpels is the sapphire and diamond
bracelet. This was given on 18th May
1937 when their wedding plans were
fixed. The bracelet has baguettes
and diamonds made in shape of a
wrist band and has a bow placed in
the centre. This bow is made up of
cushion shaped sapphires and is
known as the contract bracelet.
The ruby and diamond pendant in
shape of a heart is another
creation. The heart is made up of
diamonds while the hook is made up
of rubies and diamonds of the finest
quality.
In 1950 the Windsor's made another
fantastic purchase. This was a large
natural pearl and diamond pendant
from Van Cleef and Arpels. In 1957
they once again acquired a pair of
natural pearl and diamond earrings
from Van Cleef and Arpels.
Cartier - The duchess who
was quite fashionable had the best
designers work for her. Naturally
Cartier was one of them. As S. Papi
and A. Modea note regarding Wallis
Simpson's jewelry "most important
and sensational examples of the 20th
century jeweler's art but they were
also jewels which had been chosen by
a king to give to a woman for whom
he abdicated his throne". The
Windsor collection was a tribute of
undying love of the duke for his
duchess.
In 1965 Cartier re-designed the
ruby and diamond necklet into
clusters of flowers. They were later
auctioned by the after Wallis's
death. It is believed that this was
the first necklace given by Edward.
In 1947 Cartier designed a lace
like necklace made in gold and set
with diamond, amethyst and
turquoise. The filigree work is made
up of step cut amethyst and
turquoise and brilliant cut
diamonds. To set off the look a
heart shaped amethyst dangles from
the center. It also has a pair of
matching earrings, a pin, bracelet
and a ring. It was sold by Sotheby's
in Geneva.
Cartier designed a pair of gold
and emerald and rose diamond
earrings to match the bib necklace
sold by Harry Winston. This set of
earrings was placed by Wallis
herself.
The Colombian emerald ring
weighing 19.77 carats was bought
from Cartier and once belonged to
the Mughals. This was supposed to
have been bought in Baghdad and was
huge. It was cut into two. It
carries the inscription "WE are ours
now 27x36". This is the date 26th
October 1937 when it was finally
decided that Ernest Simpson, Wallis
husband would grant the divorce,
leaving them free to marry. This
ring underwent change when it was
reset in a leafy design. Each leaf
holds a brilliant cut diamond. This
was done in 1958.
After their wedding a ruby and
diamond bangle was ordered and
designed by Cartier with "For our
first anniversary" inscription. The
bangle, open ended held two large
cushion shaped Burmese rubies
surrounded by brilliant cut diamonds
with cross over clasp.
A ruby and diamond cross over
necklace made by Cartier in 1937
with two cushion shaped rubies
weighing 36.15 carats were reset and
redesigned by Cartier.
In 1960, a diamond double leaf
necklace ordered by the Duke for his
duchess in 1937 was redesigned by
Cartier.
It has been noted that after
their wedding the Windsor's
collected a huge collection of
trendy, sophisticated jewelry,
crafted and designed by Jeanne
Toussaint, the famous designer
working with Cartier since 1915,
also known as Paulette by Louis
Cartier.
A ruby bead necklace was made in
1949 by Cartier which was inspired
by Indian designs. This had silken
threads as fasteners. The gold chain
had emerald and diamonds and ruby
ball dangling from the two ends.
This tassel drop was remade into a
brooch by Cartier in 1963.
The famous fancy yellow diamonds
being sold by Cartier made the
duchess say, 'I can't think of
anything I would rather have than
these two diamonds" This was
purchased in 1948 from Cartier and
were pear shaped. Each diamond
weighed 8.13 and 8.01 carats and was
brilliant cut and molded into pave
setting, a look that puts gemstones
very close together giving it a
continuous look.
The sapphire and diamond necklace
made in 1940 which had 9 distinct
flower head clusters was made by
Cartier. Sapphires and circular cut
diamonds chain supporting a fringe
made up of arrow shaped motifs.
The peerless Flamingo brooch made
in 1940 by Cartier and bought by the
Duke of Windsor was designed with
diamonds, sapphires, rubies and
emeralds. The designer was Jeanne
Toussaint.
1949 she got a tiara made of emerald
beads and parallel diamond loops
made by Cartier.
Cartier also had two august brooches
made for the duchess in 1930. One
was crafted from 20 pesos gold coin
and was set with rubies, emeralds
and diamonds. The other was a
medallion of Virgin Mary and set
only with diamonds.
The flower brooch made by Cartier
with carved emeralds, rubies,
diamonds and yellow gold and black
enamel is simply gorgeous. The
carved emerald resembles a flower
with sepals and petals and gold
leaves. Small diamonds circle the
emerald flower.
One of the most romantic pieces
of jewelry with a lot of very
intimate and personal history
attached to it is the bracelet
consisting of 9 crosses. They were
made out of platinum and diamonds
and each one carried an inscription
befitting the occasion it was given
on.
The First cross was plain with WE
(Edward/Wallis) are two 25x1-34, The
second one given on Edward's 41st
Birthday was set with sapphires and
carried the words 'Wallis- David
23.6.35'.
The third cross was made up with
rubies commemorating their time in
Wolfgang where Edward made up his
mind to marry Wallis and thus it has
these words 'Wallis-David St.
Wolfgang 22.9.35'.
The fourth cross is set with
diamonds and was given to Wallis
with the words 'God Bless W'.. This
was to immortalize their love and
send Ernest Simpson a message that
the King would be looking after her.
This was given when he became the
king.
The fifth cross is set with
emerald and given to the duchess
when an x-ray revealed an ulcer in
her stomach. The sixth cross
was inscribed with the words "God
save the King for Wallis". It was
given when an Irish journalist tried
to assassinate Edward.
The seventh cross set with
sapphires and rubies and diamonds
immortalizing their wedding date and
ceremony "Our marriage Cross Wallis
3.v1.37 David. The eight cross is
set with amethyst and was given to
her on her appendectomy and carries
the words 'Wallis 31.VIII.44'.
The ninth cross set with yellow
sapphires is a get well cross given
for a speedy recovery from her
surgery. This bracelet was
sold by Sotheby's in New York.
Another interesting part of the
Windsor collection is the animal
theme brooches/pins all studded with
precious stones crafted by Cartier.
The Great cat a black enamel diamond
studded tiger made of gold or the
white and gold diamond flecked tiger
or the tiger with emerald eyes or
the pair of black sapphire tiger are
some of the outstanding ones.
David Webb crafted a set of enameled
frogs sprinkled with diamonds and
rubies.
This is not the complete account of
the Windsor's collection. It can be
said without hesitation that she was
an elegant and fashionable lady in
spite of her humble background and
she became the fashion icon of the
20th century. Considered one of the
worlds best dressed woman for over
four decades it was no small feat
for her.
Medley of information
The duke deeply felt that all the
precious jewels that were worn by
his Wallis should be removed from
their settings and stored away when
she died. He did not want anyone
else to wear them. However he died
earlier and the Duchess willed all
her jewels to be sold off and the
money to be donated to the Pasteur
Institute for AIDS research.
The duke, it is said, spent many
hours with the iconic designers
Jeanne Toussaint and Renee' Puissant
discussing and designing jewelry.
Sotheby sold many pieces and the
total amount accumulated was 50
million dollars.
Calvin Klein's ex wife also sold
some jewels which were bought from
Mrs. Simpson. The items sold were a
pearl pendant and necklace, a pair
of Noir et Blanc (black and white)
pearl earrings, a single strand
pearl and diamond earrings, which
belonged to her mother in law, Queen
Mary. However the diamond band which
has 'eternity' inscribed on it was
not sold by her.
Suzzane Belperron, Seaman Schepps
and David Webb also designed for the
duchess.
Wallis Simpson historical jewelry
collection consisted of 214 pieces.
Reference:
Book: -Famous Jewelry Collectors by
Stephano Papi and Alexandra Rhodes
www.theroyalforums.com
www.englishmonarchs.co
www.divasite.com
www.jewelhistory.com
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