Hallmarks Robert Garrard II London 1843-1844

In the Baroque style, formed with three tiers of exceptional quality and proportions.

Garrard: Silversmiths, Jewellers and the First Crown Jewellers

The history of Garrard is inseparable from the history of the British Crown. For almost three centuries the firm has made, repaired, remodelled and cared for some of the most important jewels and objects associated with the British monarchy. Yet its origins were considerably more modest than the magnificent crowns, sceptres and tiaras for ... Read More

Hallmarks Robert Garrard II London 1843-1844

In the Baroque style, formed with three tiers of exceptional quality and proportions.

Garrard: Silversmiths, Jewellers and the First Crown Jewellers

The history of Garrard is inseparable from the history of the British Crown. For almost three centuries the firm has made, repaired, remodelled and cared for some of the most important jewels and objects associated with the British monarchy. Yet its origins were considerably more modest than the magnificent crowns, sceptres and tiaras for

which its name would eventually become famous.

The story begins in London in the early eighteenth century with George Wickes, a highly accomplished goldsmith and silversmith. Wickes established his own business in 1735, in the fashionable West End, and quickly attracted aristocratic patrons. The firm's first royal commission came in that same year, from Frederick, Prince of Wales, establishing a relationship with the Royal Family more than a century before Garrard was formally appointed Crown Jeweller.

From Wickes to Garrard

During the eighteenth century the business passed through a succession of partnerships and names, as was customary in the London goldsmithing and silversmithing trade. The decisive change came with Robert Garrard, who joined the firm in 1782 and became a partner in 1792. In 1802 he took control of the business, after which the Garrard name became increasingly prominent.

Robert Garrard's three sons-Robert, James and Sebastian-succeeded him in 1818, trading as R. J. & S. Garrard. Following James Garrard's retirement around 1835, the firm became R. & S. Garrard. It was under this name that the company entered the most significant period in its history.

By this time Garrard was already a major London goldsmith and jeweller with an established aristocratic and royal clientele. Its work encompassed not merely jewellery but also silverware, ceremonial objects and commissions requiring the highest levels of craftsmanship. The firm's proximity to the Royal Family and its reputation for dependable workmanship positioned it to inherit an exceptionally important responsibility.

1843: The creation of the Crown Jeweller

The year 1843 marks the defining moment in Garrard's history.

Until then, the Crown Jewels had not been entrusted to a holder of a formally established office called the "Crown Jeweller". Responsibility for making, repairing and preparing royal jewels and regalia had evolved through a succession of royal goldsmiths. In the early nineteenth century, Rundell, Bridge & Co. had occupied the leading position in this work.

Queen Victoria changed the arrangement in 1843. She appointed Garrard as the first official Crown Jeweller, replacing Rundell, Bridge & Co. The appointment effectively formalised a role that had previously been carried out by royal goldsmiths without the modern title.

This was considerably more than an honour or a prestigious piece of royal patronage. The Crown Jeweller was responsible for the care, maintenance, repair and preparation of the Crown Jewels and regalia, ensuring that the objects required for state occasions and coronations were maintained in perfect condition. Garrard therefore became custodian, as well as maker, of objects at the very heart of Britain's constitutional and ceremonial life.

The appointment also represented the culmination of more than a century of royal connections. Garrard did not suddenly become a royal jeweller in 1843: it had been supplying the Royal Family since 1735. What changed in 1843 was the formal nature and scale of the responsibility.

Queen Victoria and Garrard

The relationship between Queen Victoria and Garrard produced some of the firm's most enduring designs.

One particularly important piece was the sapphire and diamond brooch presented to Victoria by Prince Albert on the eve of their wedding in 1840. The oval sapphire surrounded by diamonds in Garrard's characteristic cluster setting became one of the Queen's favourite jewels. The design subsequently became one of the defining motifs of Garrard's jewellery, and, more than a century later, its influence could be seen in the sapphire engagement ring worn by Diana, Princess of Wales, and subsequently by Catherine, Princess of Wales.

Victoria's reign also saw Garrard's involvement in increasingly important work for the Crown. The firm was not simply producing fashionable jewellery for royal women; it was becoming intimately involved with the physical objects through which monarchy expressed its authority.

The Koh-i-Noor

Perhaps the most dramatic early demonstration of Garrard's new status came in 1852, when the firm was entrusted with the recutting of the celebrated Koh-i-Noor diamond.

The diamond had entered British possession following the annexation of the Punjab and was presented to Queen Victoria. Its original form was considered unsuitable for a modern European style of jewellery, and Garrard was given the formidable task of transforming it.

The recutting took approximately three weeks and reduced the stone to a brilliant-cut diamond of 105.6 carats. The operation attracted enormous attention, and the Duke of Wellington was among those who visited Garrard's workshop to observe the work. The resulting diamond was subsequently mounted in Queen Victoria's jewellery and eventually became part of the Crown Jewels.

The episode illustrates what made the position of Crown Jeweller so significant. Garrard was being entrusted not merely with valuable objects but with stones and regalia whose political, historical and symbolic importance was almost impossible to measure.

Garrard and the Crown Jewels

During the nineteenth and twentieth centuries Garrard's responsibilities expanded alongside its reputation. As Crown Jeweller, the firm maintained the Crown Jewels and prepared them for coronations and other great state occasions. Its craftsmen worked on objects ranging from crowns and sceptres to jewellery worn by individual members of the Royal Family.

Garrard subsequently became responsible for some of the most recognisable pieces of British royal regalia. Among its major commissions were Queen Mary's Crown, created for the coronation of George V and Queen Mary in 1911, and the crown made for Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, for her coronation as Queen Consort in 1937. Garrard also worked extensively on the Sovereign's Sceptre and other coronation objects.

The discovery of the Cullinan diamond in South Africa in 1905 presented another extraordinary challenge. The enormous rough stone was divided into several major gems, including Cullinan I, which Garrard set into the Sovereign's Sceptre. The work was undertaken for the coronation preparations of George V in 1911. Garrard's archival records show the firm's craftsmen devising a specially engineered setting for the enormous stone, including a mechanism that allowed the diamond to be removed from the sceptre.

The twentieth century

Garrard continued to serve successive monarchs throughout the twentieth century. The firm's work increasingly encompassed both ancient regalia and modern royal jewellery.

Its designers created some of the most recognisable tiaras and jewels worn by members of the Royal Family, including pieces associated with Queen Mary, Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother and Queen Elizabeth II. Among the firm's celebrated royal creations are the Lover's Knot Tiara, Queen Mary's Fringe Tiara and numerous important brooches, necklaces and other jewels.

Garrard's importance, however, lay not only in creating new jewels. Its role as Crown Jeweller meant that it had to preserve the existing royal collection. Its craftsmen were required to understand historic pieces, restore them sensitively and ensure that ancient regalia remained usable for modern coronations.

This combination of silversmithing, jewellery-making, restoration and ceremonial craftsmanship explains why Garrard occupied such a distinctive position within British royal history.

The end of Garrard's tenure

Garrard remained Crown Jeweller for more than 160 years. The firm served six successive British monarchs, from Queen Victoria through to Queen Elizabeth II. In 2007 the appointment passed to another firm, ending Garrard's formal tenure as Crown Jeweller.

Nevertheless, the end of the appointment did not erase Garrard's royal legacy. The company's archives preserve records of its royal commissions, and many of the jewels and pieces of regalia produced or maintained during its tenure remain among the most recognisable objects associated with the British monarchy.

Why 1843 matters

For Garrard, 1843 should therefore be understood not as the beginning of its relationship with the Crown, but as its transformation into an official institution of the British monarchy.

The firm had already been working for royalty for more than a century. From George Wickes's first royal commission in 1735, through Robert Garrard's acquisition of the business, the firm developed a reputation for craftsmanship that eventually made it the natural successor to the earlier royal goldsmiths.

Queen Victoria's decision in 1843 formalised that relationship. By making Garrard the first official Crown Jeweller, she placed the company at the intersection of craftsmanship and constitutional history. From that moment Garrard was responsible not simply for making beautiful objects for kings and queens, but for maintaining the material symbols of the British Crown itself.

That distinction explains Garrard's extraordinary place in the history of British jewellery. It was simultaneously a London silversmith, a fashionable jeweller, a manufacturer of royal ornaments, a restorer of historic treasures and custodian of the Crown Jewels. Its story is consequently not merely the history of a jewellery house, but a history of how British monarchy has represented itself through precious metal, gemstones and ceremonial objects.