For the UK Remembrance Day, aka Poppy Day, British luxury jeweler Garrard created a dazzling poppy brooch to be auctioned for charity at the Royal British Legion’s Poppy Ball. Unfortunately, a couple of days after it was sold to an anonymous collector for £25,000, the precious jewel was stolen. This happened an hour before it was supposed to be worn by singer Katherine Jenkins as she sang for the Queen.
The poppy was made of 18-karat gold, then covered with red and green enamel before being further adorned with black diamonds, tsavorite garnets and rubies. Measuring 64 mm in length and 42 mm in width (2.5 in and 1.5 in, respectively), the brooch is engraved on the back with the words: “The Royal British Legion Poppy Ball 2011”.
A Legion’s spokesman said “We are hoping that the thief will realize that something valuable has been taken away from the nation, something that was supposed to help injured servicemen.” Garrard announced that if the thief would not return the precious poppy, they would make another brooch exactly like the original one for the buyer. We have to say, that’s extremely generous of them!
