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It’s Royal Blue LK Bennett & a New Cartier Watch for Art Room Opening

For her Valentine’s Day Art Room engagement the Duchess chose a new LK Bennett dress.James Whatling/Splash News

Kate was at Northolt High School in London to officially open The ICAP Art Room.

The dress is LK Bennett’s ‘Detroit style’ in ‘snorkel blue,’ it is almost sold out in the US ($395),  but still available in limited sizing at LK Bennett in the UK (£225), as well as John Lewis ($375) and House of Fraser.LK Bennett

The dress is that blend LK Bennett does so well, polyester & rayon (aka viscose) with a touch of elastane for stretch and comfort. The knee-length dress has a silhouette Kate is fond of, along with other elements: a cinched waist, additional darts at waist and shoulders, notched sleeves, and collar.

Detroit is offered in two other colorways, red-violet and light cream.LK Bennett 'Detroit' Dress

It is fun to see Kate in this dress, I pinned it to my “I Could See Kate Wearing _____” Pinterest board in the cream color a month ago. The blue is a very wise choice, it is always a flattering color on the Duchess.Polaris/Splash/Splash

Kate wears this blue with some frequency; above we compare today’s LK Bennett frock with the blue Stella McCartney ‘Ridley Stretch Dress’ we’ve seen previously. Coincidentally, Kate also wore a notable piece of Cartier jewelry with the Stella McCartney dress.Andrew Parsons/i-Images/Polaris

Most readers will recall that the Art Room provides art therapy as a means of helping children and teens cope with challenges and issues in their lives. Below, Kate speaks with headteacher Gloria Lowe.Nunn Syndication/Polaris

Clarence House tweeted this picture of Kate joining in on a session.

Clarence House Twitter Feed

Clarence House Twitter Feed

The Telegraph’s Gordon Rayner shared this photo of Kate taking part in an actual Art Room workshop.

Gordon Rayner, The Telegraph

Gordon Rayner, The Telegraph

Kate and the students seemed to be enjoying a good time together.Weir Photos/Splash News

More from Rebecca English in her story about today’s events

The Duchess was greeted by raucous applause by the school’s 1,000 pupils when she arrived in the school hall, before moving on to the Art Room itself, where she sat with children attending an art therapy session and chatted to each one in turn.

Northolt’s Art Room was funded with £105,000 raised by the City firm ICAP, which holds a charity day every year at which guests including the Duke of Cambridge and Prince Harry have in the past stood in as traders to raise money on the phones..

Kate was also wearing a new watch from Cartier, part of the jeweler’s Ballon de Bleu collection, the Stainless Steel version ($4550).Andrew Parsons/i-Images/Polaris

Described by Cartier this way:

Floating like a balloon and as blue as the sapphire safely nestled in its side, the Ballon Bleu watch by Cartier adds a dash of elegance to male and female wrists alike. Roman numerals are guided on their path by a sapphire cabochon winding mechanism protected by an arc of precious metal. With the convex curves of the case, guilloché dial, sword-shaped hands, and polished or satin-finish links of the bracelet… the Ballon Bleu watch by Cartier floats through the world of Cartier watchmaking.

Cartier

This is a fairly new collection for the jeweler, offering a broad array of sizes, styles, and metals; the timepieces are available at Cartier and a limited group of other retailers.  Our thanks to the Kate Middleton Style blog and photographer Chris Jackson for the info on Kate’s watch. Ayvee of Diana’s Jewels for helping on the size Kate wears, 28mm.
UPDATE: Commentors have left helpful info on the size of the watch, indicating it might be the medium size after all.

  1. From Annfee: “As far as I can see, it seems there is guilloché on her watch. Or the 28mm doesn’t have the guilloché (too small). So it looks rather to be the 36 mm, which is kind of confirm by the size on the wrist. The 28 is really small while worn (I’m lucky enough to have one, so I kinda noticed).”
  2. From Ramfi: “For those interested, here’s the scoop on this watch from a local retailer I checked with. It IS a 36 mm Quartz with Sunburst dial. If you look close enough then you’ll see the difference in the 36 mm and the smaller version which does not have the sunburst dial. Automatic movement has Automatic written on the dial. Also, it’s not Sapphire but a blue “synthetic spinel cabochon”, the lady said. She is pretty sure it’s 36 mm but will find out more from her buyer so I shall update you later.”

Cartier carries the medium size, it is also available at Saks.

Kate also wore her Mappin & Webb Fortune White Gold Drop Pendant.
Andrew Parsns i-Images/Polaris

Andrew Parsons, i-Images/Polaris

There has been discussion about Kate’s new ring, first noted by many readers at the National Portrait Gala earlier this week. I apologize to everyone who was kind enough to email and message about the ring, I have been buried with work this week and just couldn’t make the time to get back to everyone. At any rate, the ring looks like a classic diamond eternity band. PLEASE NOTE: there has been no identification of the ring. The photo was used to illustrate Anna’s observations that it looked like the Tiffany or Mappin & Webb.

Polaris Images (top)/Splash News (bottom)Tiffany & Co.

Polaris Images (top)/Splash News (bottom)/Tiffany & Co.

Anna of My Small Obsessions initially thought it might be by Mappin and Webb or Tiffany; Mappin & Webb have told Anna it is not a piece from their store.

We also saw a new pair of earrings today from Kiki McDonough. They look very much like the Green Amethyst and Diamond Cushion Drops. (The Duchess already owns the diamond hoops, the drop portion of the earrings can be changed out at any time.) The earrings are £1200 (about $2000 at today’s exchange rate), but that price is for both the diamond hoops and drops; we are fortunate because Lynn left a comment explaining that the drops by themselves are $1100.

Polaris Images/Kiki McDonough

Polaris Images/Kiki McDonough

This was a splendid look for Kate: an elegant dress in a flattering color, pretty earrings, a new watch, and simple accessories. (We saw the UFO black suede bag again, and her black pumps.)Andrew Parsons/i-Images/Polaris

An ancillary note (that has nothing to do with what Kate wore). As some may know, England is dealing with record-breaking rain, wind, and floods. The Army, Royal Navy, and RAF have been called in to assist; below you see soldiers from C Company Royal Ghurka Rifles, they are working to build a dam to save farmland from the flooding.

Cpl Richard Cave; Crown copyright

Cpl Richard Cave; Crown copyright MOD

Prince William and Harry joined soldiers today from the Household Cavalry to assist in creating a sandbag dam.

Richard Watt; Crown Copyright MOD

Richard Watt; Crown Copyright MOD

The Guardian has posted a video of the two helping out today.

NEXT ENGAGEMENT: Monday Kate joins HM at Buckingham Palace for a reception honoring the dramatic arts. Among those expected to attend: Downton Abbey creator Julian Fellowes, Cate Blanchett, Benedict Cumberbatch (perhaps best known in the US as Sherlock Holmes), Dame Helen Mirren and Sir David Attenborough. The Queen is Patron of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts (RADA).

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Heidi

Saturday 16th of August 2014

Hi all, I have finally found exactly which Cartier Ballon Bleu she has on. I have previously not been able to find a precise answer, a lot of the sites differ. It is definitely not the ’28 due to the guilloché that the 28 mm does not have. It was either the Cartier Ballon Bleu Steel Quartz 33 mm or 36 mm (also called the medium model). I have been comparing photos and have finally found a distinctive difference between models that has helped me distinguish which one it is exactly.

There are a lot of small differences that you can see from various photos but the one feature that is clear as day is the number 4 ‘IIII’, it is completely featured on the 36 mm, yet the number ‘IIII’ is not quite complete on the 33 mm model. Have a look on the Cartier site for yourself and on the photos of close-ups that the Duchess wears, it is clearly the 33mm model as the number ‘IIII’ is not quite complete.

And there you are, you’re welcome, enjoy!

Magda

Sunday 4th of May 2014

Just a thought on the watch--could it also be the 33mm version? It has the sunburst dial as well.

กระดูกอ่อนหลังใบหู

Tuesday 29th of April 2014

Yes! Finally someone writes about light and the human eye.

Angela

Friday 11th of April 2014

I like Kate a lot, so this is not meant to be a put-down in any way. But I was surprised with the blue dress. Very "would you like coffee or tea, Ma'am?" Good thing Kate has such a fantastic figure. The dress is bordering on … frumpy.

Angela

Friday 11th of April 2014

In your close-up picture of Kate, her eyeliner is really heavy and strong. Doesn't look it from afar.

Penelope

Wednesday 19th of February 2014

I through it was a great choice for the duchesses and the colour and style suited her very well. I've bought the dress from the notting hill LKB boutique in London. It's a lovely feminine dress with smart details. The colour is slightly darker than what it appears on line and compared to the Stella McCartney she owns. It really doesn't resemble at all a flight attendant look if one sees it in the flesh. And even thought it might be pricy for some it's also reasonably priced for a dress of this kind compared to other designers.

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