Love token: Cartier bracelet fit for a duchess

Rumoured to have once been owned by Madonna, this menacingly exquisite bracelet is valued at an impressive US$12.4 million. In addition to its celebrity credentials, it also has a royal connection. A truly stunning item of jewellery, it was once owned by the American socialite Wallis Simpson, a lady best known for her relationship with Edward VIII. Indeed, the one-time king was so besotted with her he abdicated the British throne in 1936 in order to marry her.

Over the course of her life, Simpson was given a huge number of gifts by the clearly-smitten Edward, although this particular Cartier-created bracelet remains one of the most unconventional. The panther is composed of single-cut diamonds and a semiprecious black onyx gemstone. Strikingly, its eyes stand out due to the use of two specially cut marquise-shaped emeralds. The panther’s articulated body has also been designed to strike a stalking pose while neatly encircling the wrist.

The Duke and Duchess of Windsor – as Edward and Simpson later became officially known – commissioned the bracelet to be made in Paris in 1952. Such was the prestige of the commission that Jeanne Toussaint, one of Cartier’s most senior designers, took on the task himself.

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