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.
Queen Mother’s palm brooch
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.
