Kate Middleton's Most Treasured Jewels Aren't Just Striking — They're Full of History

The crown rubies
Prince Albert bought the necklace, earrings, and brooch for his wife, Queen Victoria, but at the time they were set with opals. When they were passed down to Queen Alexandra, believing opals to be bad luck, she had the pieces reset with rubies.

The Baring ruby necklace and Burmese ruby tiara
Upon the death of King George VI, the crown rubies should have been passed down to the Queen, but since they were a favorite of the Queen Mother, she kept possession of them until her own death in 2002. It's thought that because of this, the Queen bought her own rubies in the 1960s and 1970s — the Baring ruby necklace was made from a pendant and pair of earrings, and the Burmese ruby tiara was created from a diamond tiara and loose rubies that had been a wedding present to the Queen.

The bandeau necklace and Queen Mary's ruby earrings
The distinctive V-shaped neck-piece was the then-Princess Elizabeth's wedding present from her parents. The ruby earrings had been a birthday present from George V to his wife Mary, and were also passed down to Elizabeth.

Camilla's ruby and diamond necklace
The impressive piece was a gift from Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah, along with matching earrings and a bracelet.

Kate's rubies
Although Kate is known for a more understated style, she does own several sets of fabulous jewels. This ruby and diamond set including a necklace, earrings, and a bracelet by Mouawad were a wedding present, but it has never been disclosed who they were from.

Diana's sapphires
Because of her choice of engagement ring, the sapphire is the stone that Diana will always be associated with, and when she got married, this set of earrings, a necklace, and a bracelet were a gift from the Saudi royal family.

Diana's sapphires part two
The Saudi wedding sapphires also included a watch and ring, which Diana had made into a headband/choker.

Diana's sapphire choker
Diana's second most famous sapphire was given to her by the Queen Mother as a wedding present. The whopping stone, surrounded by diamonds, was originally a brooch, and Diana wore it several times before having it converted into the centerpiece for a seven-strand pearl choker.

The King George Vl Victorian Suite
The sapphire and diamond necklace and earrings were a wedding gift to his daughter from King George VI, and 15 years later, the Queen commissioned a sapphire tiara and bracelet to be added to the set.

Kate's emeralds
As with her rubies, Kate is keeping her lips sealed about who gifted her with this impressive pair of earrings and this bracelet — although one thing seems likely. There's bound to be a necklace to go with them, which we will look forward to seeing.

Diana's emeralds
The choker was made up of some of the Cambridge emeralds, and given as a wedding present from the Queen to Princess Diana. She famously wore it as a headband in the '80s, along with diamond and emerald earrings and a bracelet which had been given to her by Prince Charles as a wedding gift.

The Queen's Brazilian aquamarines
The impressive necklace and earrings were a wedding present to the Queen from the people of Brazil, and she was so fond of them that she had a matching tiara commissioned.

Camilla's aquamarine
The Duchess has a penchant for chokers, and inherited this one from her mother, featuring three strands of pearls and a whopping aquamarine centerpiece.

The Kent Parure
The oldest pieces of jewelry in the royal collection belonged to Queen Victoria's mother. The huge amethysts surrounded by diamonds have only been worn by the Queen once.

Camilla's amethysts
Although the origin of Camilla's amethyst earrings isn't known, the amethyst heart necklace was a wedding present from Queen Alexandra to the Queen Mother, and appears to have been gifted to Camilla by the Queen at some point.

Kate's tanzonites
Once more, this is another set where the origin has not been made public. Kate has only worn the pendant and earrings once, but as a perfect match for her engagement ring, she's sure to bring them out again some time.