Kate-Inspired Purchase Review: Halo CZ Earrings

Here's my latest repli-kate review for these gorgeous cubic zirconia earrings by The Looking Glass shop on Etsy:

These earrings are one of those Kate items you'd absolutely need to repli-kate, as opposed to getting the real deal, even if you really wanted/could afford to, as these are rumored to be a wedding gift from the Prince of Wales and very likely bespoke and/or antique (together with the matching bracelet).
They made their first appearance shortly after the wedding, during the North American tour:

 

1 July 2011 - Attending Canada Day celebrations in Ottawa.

 

 

9 July 2011 - The bracelet worn with different diamond earrings at a BAFTA Brits to Watch event in Los Angeles.

 

  

 

27 October 2011- Hosting a charity gala at Clarence House on behalf of the Prince of Wales.

 

 

4 June 2013 - Attending the Coronation anniversary service at Westminster Abbey, as part of the celebrations for the Queen's Diamond Jubilee.

 

11 February 2014 - A dazzling duo, with the Nizam of Hyderabad necklace, at the National Portrait Gallery annual Portrait Gala.

 

 

10 April 2014 - Attending a reception at Government House, Wellington, New Zealand.

 

 

 

25 April 2014 - Attending a reception at Government House, Canberra, Australia (plus a good close-up of the matching bracelet).

 

As of  February 2016, the bracelet was worn most recently at the 100 Women in Hedge Funds Gala at the Natural History Museum on 27 October 2015 and the earrings at the Festival of Remembrance at the Royal Albert Hall on 7 November 2015:

 

There might be a matching ring in the set, although it's difficult to tell for sure due to the lack of HD images available. The photo below was taken at the 100 Women in Hedge Funds Gala on 24 October 2013, the only occasion when the Duchess appears to have worn the complete set (if indeed it's a set we're talking about):

 

 

 

The set appears to be either platinum or white gold; it's made up of diamond florets or circles, *possibly* with yellow diamond accents, alternating with baguette-cut diamonds:

 



 

I purchase my repli-kate earrings in February 2015 for $53 including shipping to Italy (£37/€48). They're still available at The Looking Glass Shop for $40 (£28/€37) plus shipping (which, in my case, comes up to $15/£11/€14, so total cost has gone up by $2 since I purchased them last year).

 

From the description on the shop Etsy page: Worthy of a princess, these gorgeous earrings are custom-designed replicas of earrings worn by Kate Middleton, the Duchess of Cambridge.
They feature 2 beautiful cubic zirconia stones surrounded by pave style halos, separated by 3 baguette stones. They measure just under 1 1/2 inches in length [approx. 3.8 cm] and have nickle-free posts.

 

My main gripe about these is that in the originals the three baguette-cut diamonds that connect the florets appear to be articulated. However, this is not the case in the repli-kate. Also, the three stones appear to be the same size, whereas in the repli-kate the top two are the same size but the bottom one is longer by around 1 mm on each side (I know I'm nitpicking, but I reckon I might just spill the beans and tell things as they are).

Front and back view:

 

 

 

Also, in the originals the central brilliants appear to be slightly raised from the surrounding pavé border, as seen in the image below (notice the dark circle visible between the two):

 

 

In the year or so I've had them, I've also noticed some very minor verdigris developing. I've highlighted the most noticeable bit in the photo below; in all fairness, although there are a few specks here and there, it's hardly noticeable for now:

 

 The earrings tried on:

 

 

 

 

 

The Duchess Dictionary: Coat of Arms

The Duchess of Cambridge was granted her own coat of arms by the Queen, following her marriage to the Duke of Cambridge in April 2011.

The Duchess of Cambridge's coat of arms.

The design shows a shield with the left half derived from the Duke of Cambridge’s coat of arms and the right half from the Middleton family coat of arms, granted to Catherine's father Michael shortly before the Royal Wedding; in heraldic terms, this is known as an impaled coat of arms.
The Duke of Cambridge was given his own coat of arms to mark his 18th birthday in 2000.

The Duke of Cambridge's coat of arms.

The coat of arms used by the Duchess prior to her wedding, displayed on a "lozenge" suspended from a ribbon as befits an umarried daughter.

The Middleton coat of arms was granted to Michael Middleton before the Royal Wedding, and was designed at the College of Arms in London.

The three acorns represent Mr. and Mrs. Middleton’s three children (Catherine, Philippa and James). Acorns were chosen because the area in which the children were brought up, West Berkshire,  is surrounded by oak trees. Additionally, oak is a long-established symbol of both ‘England’ and ‘Strength.’

The gold chevron, which sits at the centre of the design, represents Mrs. Middleton, whose maiden name is Goldsmith. The two thinner white chevrons, which sit either side of the gold chevron, allude to hills and mountains and represent outdoor pursuits that the family enjoy together. The colours blue and red were chosen as they are the principal colours from the flag of the United Kingdom.

Catherine carried this coat of arms into her marriage, to be placed beside that of her husband in what is known as an impaled coat of arms.



Following her marriage, the impaled shield is now supported by a lion, taken from Prince William's coat of arms, and a white hind (a female red deer) and is surmounted by the Duke of Cambridge’s coronet. This is the coronet laid down by a Royal Warrant of 1917 for the sons and daughters of the Heir Apparent.
The red escallop on the lion's neck is derived from the Spencer coat of arms, which has been used by Prince William's ancestors on his mother's side for many centuries.
The white hind has had a long tradition of connections to the Royal Family in England since the fourteenth century. It wears the Duke of Cambridge's coronet about its neck.

In addition to their own individual coats of arms, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have a conjugal coat of arms which will represent them in heraldic terms as a married couple.

Conjugal coat of arms of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.

Designed by the College of Arms in London, conjugal arms traditionally show the separate shields of a Royal husband and wife, side by side.
The Duke’s shield on the left shows his version of the Royal coat of arms granted to him by the Queen on his 18th birthday, surrounded by a blue garter bearing the motto "Honi soit qui mal y pense"('Shame to those who think evil of it'), which symbolises the Order of the Garter, of which he is a Knight Companion. On the right, The Duchess’s shield is from the Middleton family coat of arms, granted to the family in 2011 ahead of her marriage, and is surrounded by a wreath of oak, to balance visually her husband's garter. This is traditional for Royal Spouses who are not themselves entitled to surround their Arms with an order of chivalry.

Additionally to the coat of arms, the Duchess also uses her monogram on her correspondance, a letter "C" surmounted by her husband's coronet:

Catherine owns a gold chain bracelet with disk pendant emblazoned with her monogram on one side and the Duchess of Cornwall's monogram on the other, which was a gift from her step-mother-in-law and which she wore very frequently in the early days of her marriage.

The two sides of the disc, with Catherine's (left) and Camilla's monogram (right).

Intriguing India - Part IV: The Queen's 1983 and 1997 State Visits

As we mentioned in our latest post in the Intriguing India series, the Queen has visited India only three times during the course of her reign. Her first historic visit came in 1961 and has already been discussed - today the focus will be on the subsequent visits, in 1983 and 1997 (for the other posts in the series, see here and here).

The 1983 State visit on the invitation of the Prime Minister, Mrs Indira Gandhi, and was timed to coincide with the 7th Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in New Delhi. The Queen remained in the country from 17 to 26 November and met President Zali Singh, as well as the Prime Minister:

 

During the visit, a special ceremony took place at the Rashtrapati Bhavan, the official residence of the President of India in New Delhi, during which the Queen invested Mother Teresa of Calcutta as an honorary member of the Order of Merit:

  

 

The following images were taken at a State banquet in New Delhi in 18 November. The Queen is seen wearing Queen Alexandra's Kokoshnik tiara and the sapphire and diamond earrings and necklace that were a wedding present from her parents:

 

 

At another banquet, part of the Brazilian aquamarine parure was worn:

 

 

The Queen in New Delhi, wearing the round Cambridge emerald brooch with pendant; she is seen below being assisted in removing her shoes for a visit to lay at wreath at the Mahatma Gandhi Memorial in Delhi, a landmark that's sure to feature on the Duke and Duchess' itinerary.

 

 

 

The Queen visited also the Indian National Defence Academy in Pune (below, wearing the Russian sapphire and diamond cluster brooch). 

 

 

Below, the Queen, in a Frederick Fox hat and Hardy Amies dress, watches a display of traditional dancing in the village of Devara Yamzal, near Hyderabad:

 

Some more fancy millinery from the tour:

 

 

Among the unusual forms of transport used by the Queen, there's this 'Palki', a type of sedan chair, which she rode during the 1983 tour:

 

 

Fourteen years later, in 1997, the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh paid their third visit (and almost certainly last, given how the couple are scaling back significantly on long-haul travel) to the country to mark the 50th anniversary of Indian Independence.

During a speech given at the State banquet in New Delhi on 13 October, the Queen's praised India's vital contribution to the Commonwealth, saying:

 

Like Britain, India has always been a country which is open to other cultures, and able to accept and assimilate them in a constructive way. This is one of the many reasons why India is such a vital and distinguished member of the Commonwealth.

 

The Queen inspecting an Indian Forces' honour guard at the Presidential Palace at the start of her visit:

 

 

During their visit, the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh visited the Golden Temple at Amritsar, where they were presented with a ceremonial sword and a model of the temple in painted wood and gold leaf:

 

 

Being presented with a pot from an Untouchable at St Francis Church in Kochi:

  

 

 

The Queen also toured a Bollywood film set:

 

The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh visited again the Raj Ghat, Mahatma Gandhi's cremation site in New Delhi:

I hope you enjoyed this recap of the Queen's visits to India. I'll see you very soon with a new post on more royal visits to India - including those of the Prince and Princess of Wales back in 1990s!