Garrard & Co. is the oldest jewellery house in continuous operation in Britain and, for more than a century and a half, the official Crown Jeweller to the British monarchy. Founded in 1735 by the silversmith George Wickes at Panton Street, London, the firm grew from a single craftsman's workshop into an institution whose commissions have shaped the visual language of British royal ceremony. Its roster of works encompasses the maintenance and periodic remaking of the Crown Jewels, the creation of tiaras, orders, and insignia for successive sovereigns, and a number of individual pieces that have entered the public imagination — among them the sapphire-and-diamond cluster ring that became one of the most recognised engagement rings in modern history. Garrard today operates from Albemarle Street, Mayfair, and continues to produce high jewellery under its own name.

Origins: George Wickes and the Panton Street Workshop

George Wickes registered his maker's mark at Goldsmiths' Hall in 1722, and by 1735 had established the premises at Panton Street, off the Haymarket, that would become the founding address of what is now Garrard. Wickes was primarily a silversmith of considerable accomplishment — his surviving rococo silver is held in major museum collections — and the early business reflected that emphasis, supplying plate, candelabra, and domestic silver to aristocratic patrons. He received a royal warrant in 1735, establishing from the outset the firm's connection to the Crown. Wickes took Edward Wakelin into partnership in 1747, and the business passed through a succession of partnerships — Wakelin & Taylor, Wakelin & Garrard — before Robert Garrard the Elder assumed control in 1792, giving the house the name it carries today.

Under Robert Garrard the Elder and subsequently his sons Robert Garrard II, James Garrard, and Sebastian Garrard, the firm expanded its ambitions decisively into jewellery. The early nineteenth century was a period of intense interest in archaeological and historicist design across Europe, and Garrard was well placed to serve a clientele that demanded both technical mastery and historical literacy in ornament.

Appointment as Crown Jeweller

The pivotal moment in the firm's history came in 1843, when Queen Victoria appointed Garrard as Crown Jeweller — the official custodian, restorer, and maker of the Crown Jewels of the United Kingdom. The appointment was not merely honorific. It carried with it a genuine and ongoing responsibility: the maintenance of the regalia housed in the Jewel House at the Tower of London, the setting and resetting of stones as crowns were remade or adapted for successive coronations, and the creation of new pieces of state insignia as occasion demanded. Garrard held this appointment continuously for 164 years, until 2007, when the Royal Warrant Holders Association confirmed that the role had passed to the royal household's own management.

The most celebrated object in Garrard's care was the Imperial State Crown, the crown worn by the sovereign at the close of each coronation ceremony and at the State Opening of Parliament. The current version of the Imperial State Crown was made for the coronation of King George VI in 1937, incorporating historic stones of extraordinary provenance: the Cullinan II diamond (317.40 carats, the second-largest polished stone cut from the Cullinan rough), the Black Prince's Ruby (in fact a large red spinel of approximately 170 carats, with a recorded history stretching to the fourteenth century), the Stuart Sapphire, and the St Edward's Sapphire. The responsibility for ensuring that these irreplaceable stones were securely and correctly set, and that the crown remained structurally sound for ceremonial use, rested with Garrard throughout the firm's tenure as Crown Jeweller.

Coronation Commissions and State Regalia

Each coronation presented Garrard with a distinct commission. Crowns in the British tradition are not simply passed from sovereign to sovereign unchanged; they are frequently remade or substantially altered to fit the new wearer, to incorporate newly acquired stones, or to reflect the aesthetic priorities of the age. Garrard oversaw or contributed to the regalia for the coronations of Queen Victoria, King Edward VII, King George V, King George VI, and Queen Elizabeth II in 1953. For the 1953 coronation, the firm undertook substantial work on multiple pieces of regalia, including adjustments to the Imperial State Crown to suit the Queen's dimensions and the incorporation of stones that had been reset since the previous coronation.

Beyond the crown itself, Garrard's responsibilities extended to other elements of the regalia: orbs, sceptres, swords of state, spurs, and the various rings, bracelets, and armills used in the coronation rite. The firm also supplied and maintained the insignia of the principal orders of chivalry — the Order of the Garter, the Order of the Thistle, the Order of the Bath — whose stars, collars, and badges required periodic renewal and repair.

Royal Tiaras and Personal Jewellery

Parallel to its responsibilities for state regalia, Garrard produced a substantial body of personal jewellery for the royal family and the aristocracy. The firm's style in the Victorian and Edwardian periods was characterised by the garland or guirlande aesthetic — delicate platinum and gold mounts set with diamonds and coloured stones in foliate and ribbon motifs — that was the dominant idiom of high jewellery in the years around 1900. Garrard tiaras from this period, many of them still in use within the royal family and among the British aristocracy, represent some of the finest surviving examples of Edwardian jewellery craft.

Among the tiaras associated with Garrard, the Girls of Great Britain and Ireland Tiara is perhaps the most frequently photographed, having been worn by Queen Elizabeth II on numerous official occasions and subsequently by Catherine, Princess of Wales. Originally presented to the future Queen Mary in 1893 as a wedding gift from a committee of British women, the tiara was later acquired by Queen Mary herself and passed to Queen Elizabeth II. Its association with Garrard reflects the firm's role as the natural repository and restorer of important royal jewels across generations.

The Sapphire Engagement Ring: A Commission That Entered History

In 1981, Garrard supplied the engagement ring chosen by Lady Diana Spencer and Prince Charles — a cluster of fourteen round brilliant-cut diamonds surrounding a cushion-cut Ceylon sapphire of approximately 12 carats, set in 18-carat white gold. The ring was selected from Garrard's retail catalogue rather than commissioned as a bespoke piece, a detail that attracted comment at the time but did nothing to diminish its subsequent fame. The sapphire's vivid cornflower-blue colour and the ring's bold, legible design made it immediately recognisable in press photography worldwide.

Following the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, in 1997, the ring passed to her son Prince William, who presented it to Catherine Middleton upon their engagement in 2010. As the ring of the Princess of Wales and subsequently of the future Queen Consort, it became arguably the most publicly recognised piece of jewellery in the world during the early twenty-first century. Its origin at Garrard is a matter of documented record, confirmed by the firm and by multiple authoritative sources.

The ring's sapphire is consistent with Sri Lankan (Ceylon) origin — a provenance associated with fine blue sapphires of high transparency and the saturated but not overly dark blue that the trade has long regarded as ideal. Whether the stone carries any specific laboratory documentation of origin is not publicly confirmed, but its visual characteristics are consistent with the finest material from that source.

Design Aesthetic and Stylistic Range

Garrard's design vocabulary across its history has been broad, reflecting the tastes of successive eras and the diversity of its clientele. The neoclassical silver of the Regency period gave way to the naturalistic and archaeological revivalism of the Victorian decades; the garland style of the Edwardian era was followed by the geometric severity of Art Deco; and the mid-twentieth century brought a return to more sculptural, three-dimensional forms in gold. Throughout, the firm maintained a commitment to technical excellence in stone-setting and metalwork that was the prerequisite for its royal responsibilities.

In the contemporary period, Garrard has developed a signature aesthetic centred on the Wings collection, which uses stylised feather and wing motifs as the basis for high jewellery and fine jewellery lines. The collection draws on the firm's archival heritage while addressing a contemporary market that values both provenance and wearability. Garrard has also produced bespoke commissions for private clients, maintaining the atelier tradition that has defined the house since the eighteenth century.

The End of the Crown Jeweller Appointment

The decision in 2007 not to renew Garrard's appointment as Crown Jeweller marked the end of an era that had lasted 164 years. The responsibilities for the maintenance of the Crown Jewels passed to the Royal Household, with specialist conservators and craftspeople engaged on a project basis rather than through a single appointed firm. The change reflected broader shifts in the management of royal assets rather than any dissatisfaction with Garrard's work. The firm's contribution to the preservation and presentation of the Crown Jewels across more than a century and a half of British history remains without parallel in the history of the jewellery trade.

Ownership and the Modern House

Garrard's ownership has changed several times since the Garrard family's direct involvement ended in the nineteenth century. The firm was acquired by Asprey in 1952, and the two houses operated in close association — and at times as a combined entity under the name Asprey & Garrard — for several decades. The brands were separated in 2002, with Garrard re-established as an independent house. Subsequent ownership changes brought the firm under the control of a group of investors who repositioned it as a standalone luxury jeweller, retaining the Albemarle Street address in Mayfair that has been its home in the modern era.

The separation from Asprey and the loss of the Crown Jeweller appointment in the same decade might have diminished a lesser house. Garrard's response was to invest in its archival identity — commissioning historical research, publishing on its own history, and making its long association with the Crown Jewels central to its contemporary positioning. The result is a house that trades, legitimately, on one of the most substantive institutional histories in the jewellery world.

Legacy and Significance

Garrard's significance in the history of jewellery is threefold. First, it is the primary custodian of a tradition of British royal jewellery craft that stretches from the Georgian period to the present day, with documented involvement in the creation and maintenance of objects that are among the most historically important jewels in existence. Second, it represents a model of the jeweller as institutional actor — not merely a supplier of luxury goods but a participant in the ceremonial and symbolic life of the state. Third, through individual commissions such as the sapphire engagement ring, it has produced objects that have achieved a cultural resonance far beyond the jewellery world.

For the student of gemmology and jewellery history, Garrard is an indispensable reference point: a house whose archives, surviving pieces, and documented commissions constitute a primary source for the history of British jewellery from the eighteenth century to the present. Its continued operation from Mayfair, under its own name and with its history intact, makes it one of the few surviving institutions that can claim an unbroken thread connecting the craft traditions of the Georgian workshop to the high jewellery atelier of today.

Further Reading

• GIA Gems & Gemology — Garrard references in gem news
• Royal Collection Trust — The Crown Jewels