Queen Victoria's Sapphire and Diamond Coronet

A portrait of Queen Victoria by Winterhalter. The Queen is featured wearing the sapphire and diamond coronet.

In 1842, Franz  Xaver Winterhalter painted a portrait of Queen Victoria, one that features her wearing a coronet in an unexpected position, circling her chignon.

The sparkler is the iconic sapphire and diamond coronet and it holds dearly for the queen because it was designed by her husband, Prince Albert, on the year that they were married.

The Gemological Association of Great Britain described the coronet as: 

“…mounted with diamonds set in silver, with 11 step-cut sapphires of octagonal and calf’s head shape, set in gold. The piece was designed to match a sapphire and diamond brooch that Albert gave to Victoria the day before their wedding, perhaps kick-starting the Queen’s love of parures.”

Queen Victoria acquired a pair of diamond and sapphire earrings, a brooch and a bracelet of sapphires and diamonds, to match with the coronet, which was inspired by the Saxon Rautenkranz – acknowledged as Prince Albert’s coat of arms. The gemstones, meanwhile, were probably gifts from King William IV and Queen Adelaide.

Prince Albert’s penchant for designing jewelry for the queen was well-noted. In her diary entries, Queen Victoria wrote in February 1843: “We were very busy looking over various pieces of old jewellery of mine, settling to have some reset, in order to add to my fine ‘parures’. Albert has such taste and arranges everything for me about my jewels.” Aside from the sapphire and diamond coronet, the prince also designed an emerald tiara and the Oriental Circlet tiara for his wife. 

After the prince’s untimely death in 1861, a mourning queen shunned many of her jewels with coloured gemstones. From then on until her dying day, she only wore a black and white ensemble, colloquially known as widow's weeds. Finally, in 1866, she emerged from her isolation and wore the sapphire and diamond coronet, which topped her widow’s cap when she decided to attend the State Opening of Parliament for the first time,  years after Albert’s death.

The sapphire and diamond coronet. Image from Gemological Association

It was her first appearance after he died, and one of the few times she wore colored stones as a widow. Queen Victoria’s “mourning jewelry,” largely designed from black jet, launched an international trend.

The coronet is a national symbol of the queen’s devotion to her husband. Jewelry historian Diana Singer, speaking to Town and Country, said 

 “It had a special place in her heart. It was not just a queenly gift but a gift from husband to wife. The stones are Albert’s favorite color blue. I always think of it as one of the most publicly intimate of pieces. Their secret together.”

The jewel remained with the British Royal Family and was given to Mary, Princess Royal, in 1922. It passed on to the princess royal’s descendants until sold at the auction in 2016. However,  uproar ensued when concerned groups learned of the plan to take the coronet out of the country.  A search began for a UK buyer that could match the asking price. Hedge fund billionaire William Bollinger finally stepped in, bought the tiara and donated it to the Victoria and Albert Museum, where a jewelry gallery was named in his honor.