Diamond Collarettes from The Diamond Store.co.uk

A collarette is used to describe a fairly rigid necklet compared with the more flexible type fashioned from chain links.  They wrap closely around the neck sitting high on the wearer’s collarbone,  and a diamond collarette is a versatile piece of jewellery which can be displayed just as beautifully in an open neck shirt or jumper as by an off the shoulder or low cut evening gown

A very famous collarette wearer is her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.  She has so much jewellery that she has a special room which was built to keep it in. It is about the size of an ice rink and situated forty five metres under Buckingham Palace: and this does not include the British Crown Jewels which are kept in the Tower of London. The Queen's personal collection is conservatively valued at $57 million, with most of it being received as gifts. Fabulous gems in her collection include the Cambridge and Delhi Dunbar  spectacular emerald set including  a diadem; the Prince Albert sapphire brooch which he gave to Queen Victoria the day before their wedding; Queen Mary's ruby earrings, and a  V shaped ruby and diamond bandeau collarette  which the Queen has been seen wearing in several photographs taken by the late Lord Patrick Litchfield: most famously being the one of her, HRH Princess Margaret and Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother all wearing blue silk capes, diamond tiaras and collarettes.

Because collarettes are quite rigid pieces of jewellery they display the diamonds to their best advantage as the gems do not move around or flip over as they do when worn on chains.  Because they sit so close to the neck they draw attention to the wearer’s face and throat and when making a purchase you should measure what will be a comfortable size and not fit too snugly because it will feel restrictive.