Princess Diana
Princess Diana
Diana, Princess of Wales — wearer of two iconic tiaras and the world's most photographed engagement ring
Diana, Princess of Wales (1961 to 1997) is among the most consequential wearers of jewellery in the late twentieth century, both for the specific pieces associated with her and for the broader influence of her style on the international jewellery market. Her engagement ring, her two regularly worn tiaras, and the sapphire-and-pearl chokers and earrings that defined her late-1980s and 1990s image are cited routinely in trade and auction literature as reference points for the design vocabulary of the period.
The engagement ring
The most photographed of Diana's jewels is her engagement ring: an oval Ceylon sapphire of approximately twelve carats, surrounded by fourteen solitaire diamonds totalling about one carat, set in eighteen-karat white gold. The ring was selected from the Garrard collection in 1981, was not a bespoke commission, and was reported at the time to have cost approximately £28,500. Its commercial-cluster design, drawn from Garrard's standing inventory rather than from a Crown Jeweller commission, was a notable departure from the traditional pattern of bespoke royal engagement rings.
The ring passed to Prince William after Diana's death in 1997, and was given to Catherine Middleton at their engagement in 2010. It is now a working royal engagement ring of the Princess of Wales (Catherine), and remains one of the most copied designs in the international bridal market. The sapphire-and-diamond cluster pattern is now generic, but the specific Garrard ring is the original of the modern type.
The Spencer Tiara
Diana wore the Spencer Tiara at her wedding in July 1981. The tiara is a Spencer-family piece — not a Crown jewel — assembled from earlier elements in the early twentieth century and reset by Garrard in 1937 for Cynthia Spencer, Diana's grandmother. It is composed of stylised tulips, scrolls, and star-shaped flowers in diamonds set in silver-topped gold, and is one of the small group of British heirloom tiaras with documented ducal-family provenance. The tiara remained with the Spencer family after Diana's marriage, and has been worn periodically by Spencer relatives since.
The Cambridge Lover's Knot Tiara
For state occasions during her marriage, Diana most often wore the Cambridge Lover's Knot Tiara, a 1914 Garrard commission for Queen Mary in the lover's-knot style — a row of arches surmounted by upright pear-shaped diamonds, with a row of suspended pearl drops below. Queen Elizabeth II lent the tiara to Diana in 1981 and Diana wore it through the 1980s, including on the 1983 Australia and New Zealand tour. The tiara returned to the royal collection after Diana's death and has since been worn by Catherine, Princess of Wales.
The sapphire-and-pearl suite
A separate suite of sapphire-and-pearl jewellery, gifted to Diana by the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia in 1981 as a wedding present, became closely associated with her in the 1980s. The most photographed pieces are a seven-strand pearl choker with a sapphire-and-diamond clasp, the matching sapphire pendant, and the pear-drop sapphire earrings. The choker and earrings appear in many of the formal portraits of the period and have been reproduced extensively as reference points in bridal jewellery design.
Other notable pieces in Diana's regular rotation included a sapphire-and-diamond bracelet, a string of pearls with a large emerald-cut sapphire pendant (the so-called Saudi sapphire), and the so-called "swan lake suite" of pearl-and-diamond pieces commissioned later in her life from Garrard.
Influence on bridal taste
The engagement-ring market shifted measurably after the 1981 Garrard ring, with sapphire-centre cluster designs gaining commercial prominence in the early and mid-1980s. The market shifted again after the William and Catherine engagement in 2010, when the same ring's reappearance drove a renewed interest in sapphire engagement rings and in Garrard as a brand. The pattern of Diana's influence is documented in retail and auction-market data and is cited routinely in trade analysis of the bridal sector.
More broadly, the period style associated with Diana — pearls, sapphires, and traditional cluster motifs combined with a less formal manner of wearing — is one of several mid-to-late twentieth century influences shaping the present design vocabulary. Auction houses regularly cite a piece's stylistic kinship with Diana's wardrobe in catalogue entries for similar designs of the period.
In the trade
Diana-associated provenance is not a frequent feature of the secondary market because the great majority of her jewels are royal or family pieces that remain in royal or family hands. Where Diana's name does appear in catalogue copy, it is usually as a stylistic reference rather than a direct provenance claim. The dresses sold from her estate at Christie's in June 1997 included a small number of accessories; major jewels were not part of the sale.