An important 14k gold, silver, enamel and diamond buckle with Royal initials of William IV
With the crowned initials of HRH King William IV on a royal blue enamel ground. Set with 197 cushion shaped old-cut diamonds in total ca. 11.70 ct. 5 x 5 cm. Weight 27 g.
London, ca. 1830.
William IV Henry, Duke of Clarence (London 1765 - Windsor 1830) became 1830 King of the United Kingdoms of Great Britain and Hanover. The buckle was probably made on occasion of his coronation. The Royal Collection of Buckingham Palace owns a Victorian bracelet of an identical form but with a monogram crowned by the three ostrich feathers of the Prince of Wales. This was presented in 1863 on occasion of the marriage of Albert Edward Prince of Wales to Princess Alexandra of Denmark, and was assembled by the court jeweller Garrard using older elements.
Provenance
HRH King William IV of Great Britain and Hannover. Purchased at an English auction in the 1990s by the previous owner.
Literature
Cf. Gere/Rudoe, Jewellery in the Age of Queen Victoria, British Museum 2010, p. 62 no. 36. Illus. here is a page from a souvenir album on the occasion of the marriage of H.R.H. Prince Albert Eduard of Wales and H.R.H. Princess Alexandra of Denmark in which no. three shows a bracelet with an identical clasp with the note "presented by H.R.H. The Duke of Cambridge". Instead of the royal monogram it has the three feathers of the prince. It was made by the royal jeweller Garrard.