Posted by Beth on May 18, 2015, 3:05 am, in reply to "Re: sapphire ?"
Thank you so much for the photos Baxter. They clearly show that the central element in the Gloucester tiara was originally one of Queen Mary's brooches, which does not appear to have been reset, and that the brooch we have been discussing is different.
What a treasure trove of an archive you have.
You referred to the stone in the brooch/central element used in the Gloucester tiara as a pink topaz. I am inclined to agree, as I do not feel the colour matches that of a Kunzite, but colour is difficult to judge in photos and especially on computer monitors. Secondly, I read somewhere years ago that King George V had given HM a large pink topaz as a present, but I cannot remember where I read that and, of course, it may not have been accurate.
The remaining line of inquiry is - what is the central stone in the brooch Queen Mary was photographed wearing in the photo Arthur initially posted? And what happened to this brooch?