At last week’s RHS Chelsea Flower Show, several visitors were distracted from the roses and ranunculus by something very shiny, glinting in among the foliage.
It was The Palace Collection, an astonishing, 56-piece assortment of jewellery by Boodles, designed in association with Historic Royal Palaces.
The collection — which was on display, close to the Country Life stand — is made up of 11 suites, each inspired by a minute detail from one of the palaces.
The 241 Hampton Court Palace chimneys inspired a pair of earrings, below.
(Image credit: Alamy)
(Image credit: Boodles)
Queen Charlotte’s Cottage suite adopts the floral motifs adorning the property of the same name’s Picnic Room, hand-painted by her daughter, Princess Elizabeth, and a pair of Tudor Skyline earrings feature the twist of one of Hampton Court Palace’s chimneys (there are 241 in total — each unique). The Silk Mantua suite is one of our favourites, inspired by an exquisite mantua crafted in Spitalfields, London, once the hub of silk weaving in the late 18th century, and now in the care of Historic Palaces. The floral and leaf motifs and the colours of the brocaded silk have been cleverly ‘replicated’ using fastidiously-matched stones.
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Collectively, they mirror the artisanship that made the palaces so magnificent, capturing the histories and stories that sparkle within their walls in equally sparkling forms.
Boodles has form when it comes to partnering with great British institutions having previously worked with the National Gallery and The Royal Ballet. And they had plenty of inspiration this time round, courtesy of the six palaces that make up Historic Palaces: the Tower of London, Hampton Court, Kensington Palace, Banqueting House, Kew Palace, and Hillsborough Castle.
From £15,000. For more information, visit the Boodles website.
