The Russian Sapphire Cluster Brooch

A hundred years ago this month, the last Emperor and Empress of Russia lost their lives in Yekaterinburg. Appropriately, we’re devoting the month of July to Romanov jewels, both pieces that still exist and those that have vanished into history. Today, we’re starting with one of my very favorite British royal brooches: the Russian Sapphire Cluster Brooch.

The exquisite brooch now belongs to the British royal family, but it was once part of the collection of a very influential Romanov empress: Marie Feodorovna, consort of Tsar Alexander III and mother of Tsar Nicholas II. She was also a sister of Queen Alexandra, the wife of King Edward VII of the United Kingdom.

In 1934, Alexandra’s daughter-in-law, Queen Mary, reportedly bought the brooch from Marie Feodorovna’s daughters. The piece resembles another brooch in the British vaults—the diamond and sapphire cluster brooch given to Queen Victoria by Prince Albert—but this one can easily be distinguished by the intricate gold filigree set between its vivid sapphire and its cluster of diamonds.

The brooch was reportedly among the numerous jewels that Queen Elizabeth II inherited from her grandmother, Queen Mary, in 1953, but for years, it was worn by someone else: her mother, Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother. The brooch was among her favorite pieces, especially in the 1950s and 1960s, popping up numerous times. Although the brooch is quite elaborate, the Queen Mum wore it often for daytime occasions, like the Epsom Derby or palace garden parties.

She chose the brooch in 1961 for a very important family event: her first visit with her newest grandson, Princess Margaret’s first child, Viscount Linley (now the 2nd Earl of Snowdon). Perhaps the bright blue hue of the sapphire was the reason she chose it to meet a grandson?

The brooch was also suitable for less formal evening occasions, like this outing to see Shaw’s You Never Can Tell in Windsor in 1962. Here, she paired the brooch with the diamond and sapphire fringe earrings most recently worn by the Duchess of Cambridge.

She also selected it for important personal milestones, wearing it at Clarence House on her birthday in 1978.

When the Queen Mother died in 2002, the brooch was returned to Queen Elizabeth II’s collection. But she waited more than a decade to wear it, debuting it during a visit to the Vatican in April 2014.

She also wore it for the Chinese state banquet at Buckingham Palace in October 2015, using it to secure the sash of the Order of the Garter. (Note the gold filigree standing out above the brooch’s diamonds.) On this occasion, she paired the brooch with the Belgian Sapphire Tiara and jewels from the King George VI Sapphire Suite.

Now, the brooch is part of the collection managed by King Charles III and Queen Camilla. She began wearing the brooch early in her husband’s reign, debuting it at the Commonwealth Day service in London in March 2023.