Queen Elizabeth II wearing the Williamson diamond brooch, meeting President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama at Buckingham Palace on 1 April 2009.

The Williamson pink diamond is a flawless pink diamond discovered at the Williamson diamond mine in Tanganyika in 1947. The owner of the mine, Canadian geologist John Williamson gave the uncut stone to Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip upon their wedding in November 1947.[1][2]

The 54.5 carats (10.90 g) rough diamond was cut by London diamond cutters Briefel and Lemer in 1948, and Cartier was commissioned to create a setting for the main 23.6 carats (4.72 g) round brilliant cut diamond.

The pink diamond became the main feature of a brooch designed by Frederick Mew of Cartier in 1952, forming the centre of a flower with five petals, with white diamonds forming the petals and white baguette cut diamonds as the stalk.[3]

The Williamson pink diamond may be the inspiration for the Pink Panther diamond in the 1963 film The Pink Panther (although another alternative is the ancient Persian pink diamond, the Darya-ye Noor).

See also

References

  1. ↑ Patricia Treble (31 May 2012). "One of the Queen's favourite brooches has Canadian roots". Macleans.ca.
  2. ↑ "Williamson diamond brooch". Royal Collection Trust. Inventory no. 200146.
  3. ↑ "The Williamson Diamond Brooch: the Royal Collection". Royalcollection.org.uk.


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