One of The Queen’s more favoured brooches once belonged to her mother. The palm brooch – also sometimes called the paisley brooch – is made up of 203 diamonds set in platinum to form a curved oriental-style palm leaf.
A large stone sits at the centre, surrounded by seven longer drop and navette cut diamonds, while a curved, tear-drop shaped border of stones helps give the illusion of fronds. It also features the signature Cartier sprung double-pronged clip, which usefully allows it to be pinned in many ways, but we usually see it worn point down.
The piece’s design was inspired by the Indian turban ornament, a sarpech, and created by Cartier for Queen Elizabeth, consort to George VI, in 1938. They used some diamonds already in her collection for the brooch , charging £71 for it, Hugh Roberts explains.
