New Series: Queen Elizabeth's Brooches

These are a few of her favorite things...

Many of her tiaras and other jewels have achieved a fame of their own, but I'd say the brooch is Queen Elizabeth II's real signature piece of jewelry. It's rare to see her without one while in working mode; even if she takes her coat off at an engagement, she usually moves her brooch to the dress underneath (that's if she hasn't already come prepared with a second one pinned on, of course).

She has everything from big heavy monster brooches to petite buttons; she has diamonds, sapphires, emeralds, rubies, and just about anything else that could possibly tickle your fancy. There are brooches representing countries, organizations, and regiments as well as brooches given as gifts and brooches inherited with great historical and sentimental significance.

The size of her collection is staggering, and it happens to be the #1 request I've received from readers about Queen Elizabeth now that we've arrived in 2012, the year of the Diamond Jubilee.

To satisfy your need for brooches and to honor the Jubilee Girl, I'm introducing an ongoing series that I will call the Sunday Brooch (because my love for cheesy day names knows no bounds). We'll take a look at one brooch each Sunday, slowly chipping away at some of the most famous pieces in her collection. This is no attempt to catalog all of her brooches, nor will I pretend to be an expert on them, but we'll give it a go.

UPDATE: The interest in Queen Elizabeth's jewels has spilled over to a new blog. Visit From Her Majesty's Jewel Vault for more and current brooch updates.

The brooches covered here:

Photo: Getty Images/Daylife