This stunning royal brooch went through a major transformation

Queen Victoria acquired countless impressive pieces of jewellery throughout her reign. Many of them are now a part of the Crown Jewels, including the Crown Ruby brooch that has undergone a major transformation. 

In the 1850s, Queen Victoria purchased an opal and diamond parure from favourite jeweller Garrard & Co, a set that included a brooch. Opals were popular jewels in the nineteenth century, and Victoria had several opal pieces. 

Queen Victoria left much of her jewellery to the Crown, and it is believed that the opal and diamond parure were included. However, both Queen Alexandra and Queen Mary were not overly fond of opals and replaced several opals with other stones in the collection. 

This ruby and diamond brooch is thought to be a new setting of the original opal and diamond brooch. Historians are unsure of whether Queen Alexandra or Queen Mary reset it, but it first appeared in a portrait of Queen Mary in the later 1920s. 

There are two elements to the brooch. The upper element features an oval-cut ruby surrounded by diamonds, and the lower is a suspended pear-shape ruby surrounded by diamonds. 

The Queen Mother wore it regularly, pairing it with many other ruby pieces. Queen Elizabeth II did not debut the piece herself until 2015, although she could have worn it at any point during her reign.