Kate’s Royal Jewelry Pieces and the Great $1000 StyleRocks Giveaway!

We are back with a look at some of the stunning jewels the Duchess wore during this recent flurry of engagements, things we saw Kate wearing for the first time.  After our little recap we will get to our Great StyleRocks $1000 Giveaway! Or you can click here to jump down to enter the competition

There were so many new pieces and so many back-to-back engagements it was difficult to sift through our photos and find images that best show the items. Of note: almost all of the new pieces seen the past two weeks were loaned to Kate by HM, the one exception is a pair of earrings seen at the SPECTRE premiere. We begin with the sparkling treasures worn by the Duchess for her first Buckingham Palace state banquet. Perhaps the most surprising jewels at the state dinner were those seen on Kate’s wrists – two shining, shimmering diamond bracelets. The first is called the Wedding Gift Bracelet, so named because it was Prince Philip’s wedding gift to HM when they were married in 1947.

The bracelet’s geometric design was created with diamonds from a tiara that belonged to the Duke of Edinburgh’s mother. It is a piece Queen Elizabeth II has worn with some frequency, quite an honor I think that she loaned it to the Duchess. Kate’s other bracelet also an interesting background; it was originally a choker-style necklace.

One of the highlights this week was seeing the Duchess wearing a tiara.

Although Kate wore it to a 2013 reception, we weren’t able to get a good look at it until the state dinner.

The Duchess was wearing the Lotus Flower/Papyrus tiara. More from the Court Jeweller:

The first royal wearer of this tiara…was the Queen Mum. She took a page out of her mother-in-law’s book when creating the sparkler: it was made from a necklace that she received as a wedding gift in 1923….Elizabeth decided she’d rather dismantle it and reuse the gems elsewhere. Only six months after she received it, Garrard broke up the necklace and used the diamonds and pearls to create this tiara.

You may be noticing a theme here, of upcycling or recycling (in television we called it ‘repurposing’) existing jewelry into new pieces; whatever one calls the practice, royals are masters at creating new treasures from pre-existing pieces. For terrific details about the tiara visit the Court Jeweller here, and/or The Royal Order of Splendor here.

We saw a new pair of earrings at the world premiere of the latest James Bond film, SPECTRE. Kate wore a pair from Robinson Pelham, the jeweler’s Pagoda style set with blue topaz and diamonds in white gold (£14,300, about $22,000).

It turns out the earrings are not new, they date back to at least April of 2011 when Carole Middleton wore them to Kate and William’s evening wedding reception.

Here is the last item in our little overview, the Queen Mother’s sapphire and diamond earrings. Kate paired them with her Erdem gown for the 100 Women in Hedge Funds annual dinner. Here you see the Queen Mother wearing the earrings to a Buckingham Palace reception in November of 1986, and Kate wearing them Tuesday night.

The Royal Order of Splendor’s sister site, Her Majesty’s Jewel Vault, offers this insight on the earrings:

Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother regularly wore sapphire brooches during the day…but she wore the blue gem much less frequently in the evenings. And when it came to earrings, she had her favorites and didn’t do much branching out. She did, however, have these earrings, which were rarely worn.

These were all luscious to look at, I know we will see Kate in even more spectacular jewelry as time goes by.

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And now to something that might be even more fun than looking at Kate’s jewels – looking at jewelry one lucky winner will be able to buy herself. That’s because our giveaway involves one of our favorite sponsors here on Planet Kate: StyleRocks.  Pascale, the firm’s owner, has also become a wonderful friend of WKW over the years, sponsoring contests and even writing a guest post or two for our sites (here and here). The giveaways StyleRocks has offered have been wonderful; the most recent was for a Russian Rings ring (shown on Stephanie, the winner’s hand); before that we had several others, including a prize for a stunning Citrine Cocktail Ring (the center and right photos below) seen on Alese, our lucky winner of that giveaway.

This time my friend Pascale has really outdone herself, because the prize is (drum roll) a $1000 gift certificate. Our lucky winner gets to spend it however she or he likes, all you have to do to enter is share how you would spend that money…something for yourself? Perhaps a gift for a loved one?

In the spirit of the giveaway I thought I would do a little grazing on the StyleRocks website, where my first stop would be very much influenced by Kate’s style: I would look at hoops and detachable drop earrings, an approach that just makes so much sense, I don’t know why I never pursued it before seeing Kate wearing the style. Below you see just that style in a pair of Blue Topaz & Diamond Drop earrings along with a pair of Brilliant-cut Amethyst Diamond Drops, both in what are called J-style hoops.

Being able to swap different drops with different hoops opens up a world of outstanding possibilities, especially with the different metals available and stones that come in several cuts, like cushion, checkerboard or round brilliant cut. The plain gold hoop offers a wealth of possibilities: we show it with Checkerboard Onyx Earrings (seen on the left). Once I had those, I would think about adding the Round Emerald drops, or perhaps a pair of White Quartz Drops, or even the Checkerboard Cut Ruby Drops.

For classic, understated elegance the yellow gold Drop Hoop earrings paired with Yellow Gold Pearl Drops or white gold Drop Hoop earrings and White Gold Pearl Drops make an outstanding style statement.

Another look that is terrific, white gold and diamond hoops holding Morganite Drops, Pearl Drops, and Rose Quartz drops. I love the diamonds on both the inside and outside of the hoop, creating a little extra shimmer and glimmer.

In this next graphic we have a look at how your trusty scribe might go a little crazy, given the opportunity: starting with a pair of 18ct White Gold & Diamond Hoops I would then begin adding goodies like the Pink Sapphire Drops in sterling silver or Blue Sapphire Drops in sterling. But then the pragmatist would step in and suggest something that might be worn more frequently, such as the 18ct white gold Detachable Pearl Drops, or White Quartz Drops in sterling silver.

Another style I really like is showcased below: Amethyst Studs with Drop Pearls, along with Tanzanite Studs with Drop Pearls, and the Brilliant Cut Sapphire Studs with Drop Pearls in 9ct white gold.

We move to necklaces, beginning with two fabulous pieces: an absolutely beautiful Diamond Pendant in 18 ct white gold, and a Pink Sapphire Cabochon Necklace.

One of our favorite giveaways with Pascale involved the Russian Rings collection. Below you see three different Russian Ring necklace styles, from left to right: the Alexandra Russian Rings Necklace in rose gold, the Elizabeth Russian Rings Necklace with Diamonds, and Catherine Russian Rings Necklace in sterling silver. Pieces like these that are personalized with the names of loved ones make excellent gifts; they are also great for brief phrases or quotes with special meaning for the recipients.

Another great gift idea, Joined Hearts necklaces, personalized with the initials of those whose hearts you hold dear. These are also offered in a variety of metals, chain lengths and fonts.

As always, there are some beautiful bracelets at StyleRocks. From left to right we show the Black Pearl Bracelet with Sterling Silver Heart Clasp, definitely a piece that would not languish in the jewelry box. In the center the Green Amethyst Gemstone Bangle in 9ct. yellow gold has lots of possibilities; on the right, the sterling silver Oval Link Bracelet.

Rings may get more wear than any other item of jewelry; I may forget earrings or even a necklace but I almost never forget to put on a ring (in addition to engagement/wedding rings) and Pascale has loads to choose from: from left to right you see a Cushion Cut Amethyst in rose gold, then a ring with one of Kate’s favorites stones, a Green Amethyst in an emerald cut, and on the right, another stone Kate fancies, a Citrine Ring in yellow gold.

Pearls are a great basic in every jewelry collection; they’re versatile and elegant. We show a Silver Three-Band Ring with Black Pearl, a tailored Pearl Ring, and a Sterling Silver Crossover Ring with Pink Pearl.

Next we share a variety of cushion cut rings, which I call cushion candy, because that’s what they look like to me – candy. On the left it is the Cushion Halo Diamond Amethyst Ring, in the center the Cushion Halo Diamond Blue Topaz Ring in white gold, and on the right a Cushion Diamond Spinel Halo Ring, all featuring a cushion-cut central stone surrounded by a ‘halo’ of diamonds.

I could go on and on, it is such fun to look at all of the treasures on the site. Which is precisely what you’ll need to do if you would like to enter the giveaway, because we want to know how you would spend your $1000 gift certificate if you are chosen as the lucky winner. Would you use if for something special for yourself? Maybe purchase a gift for someone? Or split it up and buy more than one item? Maybe even use it as partial payment for a little something splurge-worthy? Leave us a comment saying how you would use the $1000, it does *not* need to total exactly $1000, not at all. More than anything we would love to hear everyone’s thoughts on what they find appealing, that is always a treat.

And Pascale has 2 special gift with purchase offers just for What Kate Wore readers:

• If you purchase a Russian Rings necklace you will receive 2 additional chains. Each necklace comes with one chain, but there are three lengths available. So for example, if you order a 45cm chain with your necklace, Pascale will also include a free 60cm chain and 80cm chain, a $50 value.
• Anyone spending $400 on non-Russian rings merchandise will receive a complimentary pair of Double Pearls Tribal Earrings.

Here’s how to enter:

• For one entry sign up for the StyleRocks mailing list by visiting the StyleRocks home page, scroll down to the bottom of the page and look for the “Sign up to our newsletter” box on the black bar across the bottom of the page of the page. It looks like this:

• Leave a comment telling us how you would spend that $1000 gift certificate. Don’t be shy, let us in on what you would do with that $1000!

You must complete the two steps above to be entered. If you have already signed up for StyleRocks email, don’t worry that you will be signed up multiple times for the mailing list, this is a completely new list. Nor do you need to have any concern about your information being sold or shared. StyleRocks does not sell or share your information in any way.

Everyone who enters the contest will receive a gift certificate for $25 off a StyleRocks purchase.

• For a second entry follow StyleRocks on Facebook (and let us know you did in a comment)
• For a third entry follow StyleRocks on Instagram (and let us know you did in a comment)
• For a fourth entry follow StyleRocks on Pinterest (and let us know you did in a comment)
• For an additional entry, post about the contest on your own Facebook page or Twitter account (and let us know you did in a comment)

OTHER INFO:

• the$1000 prize is in Australian dollars
• the giveaway is open internationally
• the contest ends at midnight November 13th; we will announce a winner as soon as we have one confirmed
• the winner must be available to respond to our email within 72 hours

Good luck, and have some fun!