SimplyAbuDhabi XLI

W hen Princess Elizabeth turned eighteen in 1944, she received a Boucheron aquamarine and diamond double-clip brooch. She would continue to wear this sentimental design throughout her reign. In 2020, Claire Choisne, Creative Director of Boucheron, decided to take inspiration from this unique piece to create a High Jewellery collection reinterpreting the famous Art Deco design through eighteen contemporary new designs. “Histoire de Style, Like a Queen” draws inspiration from an icon whose style transcended decades. A sentimental piece “Three years ago, when I started looking for inspirations for this collection in the Boucheron archives, I couldn’t get my mind off that Art Deco double clip brooch”, explains Claire Choisne. “The severity and geometry of the Art Deco design, tempered by the softness and light blue hue of the aquamarines, always fascinated me. I was also touched by the sentimental value of this double clip, which Queen Elizabeth II wore at pivotal moments in her reign.” This piece of jewellery joined the British Royal Family on July 31, 1937, through Prince George, Duke of Kent, who purchased it from the Boucheron boutique in London. Seven years later, the family gave it to Princess Elizabeth for her eighteenth birthday. Throughout her reign, Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II, wore it on a number of occasions, most notably including her Diamond Jubilee on June 5, 2012; on May 8, 2020, for the 75th anniversary of the speech by George VI announcing the end of World War II; and on the 70th anniversary of her coronation on February 6, 2022. Simply Abu Dhabi | 147