When the Princess of Wales stepped out yesterday in Southport for a poignant visit alongside Prince William, the mom of three looked chic in her fall-ready ensemble. Mixing and matching browns and burgundy, she looked on-trend and ready for the arrival of autumn.
Still, many royal watchers observed the princess had made one noticeable change to her standard look. In fact, Kate had swapped one of her main accessories for different pieces of new jewelry.
Forgoing her sizable sapphire engagement ring, the princess opted to add two new eternity rings to her ring stack along with her usual Annoushkha Eclipse Diamond Eternity Ring.
While many people have speculated Kate brought back her garnet and pearl ring gifted to her by Prince William during their courting days (worn by the princess to graduation from college at St. Andrews University in 2005) for recent appearances, this does not seem to be the case.
As we noted in an earlier post, Kate’s elegant Victorian promise ring features stones that symbolize love, purity and protection; the two small seed pearls represent William’s birth month of June and the three smaller garnets are symbolic of the princess’ January birthstone.
Worn on her right middle finger, Kate’s promise ring was gifted to her by William after three years of dating. The ring became a fixture in Kate’s jewelry box and was even worn by the princess during their brief breakup in 2007. The sentimental and special ring was a token of William’s commitment to his then-girlfriend and also a timeless treasure as the vintage band is believed to date back to the 1800s.
The second ring William bestowed upon Kate was her iconic engagement ring from luxury fine jeweler Garrard. Glamorous and glossy, the ring has a classic flower style with a large 12-carat oval blue Ceylon sapphire nestled in the center of a halo of 14 diamonds which serve as ‘petals.’
Kate’s engagement sparkler became a sensation as the romantic ring hailed from Princess Diana’s enviable and sizable royal collection. Expressing the beauty of love, the 18-karat white gold ring with its sizable sapphire stone is both radiant and regal.
The third ring William bestowed upon the princess was her Welsh gold wedding ring — the simple Wartski band seamlessly complements Kate’s lustrous sapphire stone engagement ring.
And then the prince added another showstopping ring to her layered look with the addition of an Annoushka Eclipse Diamond Eternity ring. To mark Prince George’s birth on July 22nd, 2013, William gifted his beloved wife this classic band which is hand set with 0.23ct sparkling white diamonds.
Designed with a high polish finish, the striking 18 carat white gold ring can be engraved with a personal inscription (though its unknown if Kate’s ring features a special message).
Now, we see the emergence of two new eternity rings in Kate’s collection — a slim white diamond band and a new mixed sapphire and diamond band. The updated ring stack was also seen in the Wales family video announcing the end of Kate’s chemotherapy treatments.
Royal watchers have speculated the new eternity band is the Étincelle de Cartier wedding band. Featuring 19 brilliant-cut diamonds totaling 0.24 carat and 19 brilliant-cut sapphires totaling 0.34 carat.
As eternity rings are thought to signify a special or significant milestone or anniversary, the princess may have been gifted the new band to mark the end of her course of preventative chemotherapy.
Perhaps Kate felt her sapphire ring had become too large, flashy or cumbersome during her health recovery. Or maybe the ring was scratchy or bulky and felt impractical during her health battle.
In addition, Kate previously opted against wearing her sapphire engagement ring for hospital visits, sporting engagements or casual at home meetings. For the sake of hygiene, she would often remove the band prior to meeting healthcare workers or athletes.
The princess’ new quartet of rings is also believed to have more significant symbolism with many speculating Kate now prefers to wear lighter and smaller rings for their ease and comfort. As the princess may have lost weight during the course of her chemotherapy, it would make sense to have a new band rather than continually resize or alter her original engagement ring.
Also, commenters on social media have speculated that “retiring Diana’s ring” is heavily symbolic of ushering in a new chapter for Kate personally. The life changing event of her diagnosis may have made her reevaluate her daily ensembles — perhaps she wants to ‘downsize’ her more flashy fashion or wear something more aligned with her other modest dainty and demure jewelry.
It’s interesting to note that Kate’s new ring comprised of small sapphires and diamonds bears a strong resemblance to the design and style of her promise ring with alternating sapphires stones (instead of garnets) and diamonds.
There’s also the significant possibility that Kate’s new ring stack is even more meaningful with each band representing one of her children — Prince George for the Annoushka ring, Princess Charlotte for the gold band and Prince Louis for the new diamond band (the birthstone of April is diamond).
And perhaps the new sapphire eternity ring is to be worn in lieu of her wedding band and represents her love and devotion to Prince William. After all, eternity rings are often used to denote wedding vows and a promise of commitment in “sickness or in health.”
Sapphire Band
