Stick a pin in it
THE stone that, in 1769, Franz Michael Diespach set among cascades of brilliant-cut diamonds for Frederick Augustus III of Saxony was the largest, most beautiful green diamond in the world: the 41-carat Dresden Green. The elector wore the glittering brooch in his hat.
Brooches have glamour. They are visible and conspicuous, as became clear in the recent response to the spider-shaped brooch worn by a black-clad Baroness Hale the day she delivered the Supreme Court’s verdict on parliamentary prorogation. Within 48 hours of Lady Hale’s verdict, a fashion-data website reported more than 400 online articles and social-media posts
