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Princess Kate might have her pick of the Queen’s jewels, but there’s one all-time favorite she reaches for again and again: a simple pair of pearl-drop earrings bought before she was even a princess.
“I’m absolutely thrilled that they seem to be her go-to earrings,” jeweler Annoushka Ducas tells PEOPLE in the latest episode of our exclusive video series Make Me Kate.
“Kate epitomizes what I see when I design my jewelry in terms of the way I want our clients to wear it – from pavement to palace,” says Ducas. “The Duchess of Cambridge does that extremely well.” (Kate’s sister Pippa is also a fan.)
It was while browsing the fine jewelry store in London’s Chelsea neighborhood more than five years ago — pre-royal wedding! — that Kate bought the classic baroque pearl earrings, which retail for $420. Since then, the royal mom has worn them on hundreds of occasions, from casual shopping trips on King’s Road to Trooping the Colour to leaving the hospital after the 2015 birth of Princess Charlotte as well as on every one of her royal tours to date.
“They are just so easy and so simple, she must have so much going on in her life that just to be able to rely on one pair of earrings and know that they work for everything, must be a relief,” says Ducas. The pearls are worn with Kate’s eclipse porcupine hoop earrings ($1,200), also from Annoushka.
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Kate, whom Ducas describes as “delightful and very easygoing,” also wears the jeweler’s $1,400 eclipse diamond eternity ring bought shortly after Prince George‘s 2013 birth.
Having recently wowed Canada with her most luxe tour wardrobe to date, the royal mom still gave her Zara jeans and trusty 12-year-old Penelope Chilvers leather boots a re-wear. “Obviously she doesn’t want to wear the most expensive designer labels all the time — she’s so careful about making it real for everyone and she does an amazing job of combining really high-end designers with much more affordable pieces,” says Ducas, who has been designing jewelry for over 25 years.
Available at Saks Fifth Avenue, Ducas will be launching her new Crown collection in November. Although royal in name, the rings — which start from $3,500 — are actually inspired by lace. “Obviously we would love it if any of the young royals were to wear them!” says the designer.
