When I saw this brooch I loved its shape. Plus there’s a beautiful cushion cut diamond in the middle topped by a rose diamond cross. The quality is excellent. It was definitely a royal crown and set with diamonds, but from what country?
Also special is the depth of it. Unlike many crown brooches from Europe or the UK that I’ve seen, this one stands quite high at ½ an inch producing a rich 3d effect.
As a dealer, I always look for hallmarks to tell me where the piece is from and a date, but this jewel had none. I tested the gold it was 14 karat. Stylistically almost certainly late 19th century. For prototypes I looked at René Fosse’s
excellent Crown Jewellery and Regalia of the World, and found dozens of possibilities. To me it’s closest to the Dutch crown.
What do you think?
