Royal Jewelry Dupes Sold at Sotheby's in Geneva

It's Magnificent Jewels season in Europe, and a recent Sotheby's auction featured some fascinating twins of British royal jewels

On May 14, Sotheby’s in Geneva held one of their glittering Magnificent Jewels and Noble Jewels auctions, featuring a whole range of beautiful pieces of glamorous jewelry. Among these were several jewels that bear a significant resemblance to pieces worn by members of the British royal family. Today, I’ve got a look at a few examples of royal jewelry twins from the auction catalogue.

Sotheby’s

I’ll begin with the astonishing diamond brooch that I featured in yesterday’s extensive write-up over at The Court Jeweller. The Allnatt Diamond, the incredible 101.29 yellow gemstone set in the center of this flower brooch, was due to be sold at auction by Sotheby’s in Geneva until it was suddenly pulled from the planned sale. The piece was expected to be one of the showstoppers of the sale, with an estimate of 5.6 million to 6.5 million Swiss francs (or around $6.2 million to $7.2 million USD).

In the auction catalogue, Sotheby’s noted that the brooch was made in 1953 by Cartier in London, just as the firm was producing another notable floral brooch, Queen Elizabeth II’s Williamson Pink Diamond Brooch. The two pieces share some interesting design similarities, from the colored diamond center to the curling petals and baguette-set stem.

Sotheby’s

Speaking of Cartier and the royal family, these diamond pendant earrings featured in the Sotheby’s sale are very reminiscent of the shape and style of the Greville Chandelier Earrings. The earrings, which were most recently seen on the Princess of Wales, were part of Dame Margaret Greville’s famous jewelry bequest to the Queen Mother in the 1940s. The Greville earrings were constructed by Cartier over a period of years from 1918 to 1929, incorporating pear-shaped, baguette, baton, emerald, half-moon, trapeze, and square-cut diamonds.