Behind the Vintage Jewelry Seen in the Crown
Susan Caplan on sourcing pieces for the television series and how she recreated Princess Diana’s iconic pearl choker.
Hello! The world felt particularly and delightfully small this month when I got a DM on Instagram from Susan Caplan about her work finding vintage jewelry for the fifth season of The Crown. Unbeknownst to Caplan, I had been trading emails with her PR team, hoping to chat with her. We jumped on a Zoom call with her daughter, Gemma, who works with her and had introduced her to So Many Thoughts. It was such fun.
Vintage jewelry has been in the royal headlines as of late, thanks to the new-to-her vintage brooch that Catherine, the Princess of Wales, debuted on Remembrance Sunday. I asked Caplan for her take on that art deco piece, as well as how one can begin buying vintage jewelry (it’s long been something I’ve wanted to try). Our chat then veered to her creative process working on The Crown, including fascinating details on the color of pearls and why the TV version of Diana’s iconic choker is not an exact replica. Our conversation has been condensed and lightly edited.
PS: There are links at the bottom of this email to pieces worn in The Crown that you can buy (really!).
How did you get into buying and selling vintage jewelry?
Susan Caplan: My parents loved collecting. We had a very modern, architecturally designed home and the house was full of objets d’art. I was used to seeing beautiful pieces, not necessarily expensive pieces. My mother would laugh at the fact that she couldn’t afford the perfect Meissen plate, so it had a little crack in it.
And then in my teens I started going to car boots, auctions, charity shops, collecting and collecting. When I got married, I realized I couldn’t keep on collecting and putting it all around the house, because there was no more room to put things. Then I started going into buying and selling. I started off at little stalls in small little village town halls, and then progressed to much bigger antique fairs that were vetted. You had to make sure it was checked that it was an 18th century Meissen dish or a 1920s deco piece of jewelry.
From there, I saw a gap in the market in one of the stores selling second hand jewelry. I thought, “I’ve got all this and much nicer.” So I approached them with the vintage jewelry.
Gemma Caplan: I’m glad I’m here because she’s playing it down. She went into John Lewis and was like, “Oh, I’ve got all these pieces. I’d love if you sold them here.” And they said, “Okay, cool. You can have a cabinet.” It was so blasé back then.
SC: That was probably [the year] 2000. It was unbranded then. I was living in Scotland. My three girls are Scottish, I’m a Londoner, but I lived in Glasgow for nearly 30 years, then moved back down here in 2008. That’s really when the business grew much more, because I branded it then. We went into many more stores — Mappin & Webb, Liberty, Selfridges — and it’s just grown and grown.
How do you recommend someone begin buying vintage jewelry?
SC: I only like old things. I don’t buy anything brand new — anything, whether it’s furniture and, obviously, jewelry. It has to have an age to it, a history, a social history. And I think that you either love that sort of buying or you don’t.
As for vintage jewelry, you have to do your research first. Go around auctions, go around antique fairs, ask as many questions as you can. A lot of people will collect perhaps a certain period. They might not like the 80s, they might stick to the 50s or the 40s. People might just buy things with animals, like an animal brooch, or florals because they might be mad gardeners.
Did you happen to see the new brooch that the Princess of Wales wore on Remembrance Sunday?
GC: That was our WhatsApp conversation on Sunday morning: Have you seen this?
SC: I even went into Bentley & Skinner, where she bought it, because that’s where my wonderful stringer is, she puts our pearls together. I’m often there weekly, and so I said, “I know you're not going to tell me this. Kate Middleton’s brooch. We know it was a deco original. We know the cost of it. But when did she buy it?” I asked everything! I was told, “Can’t say.”
I think that was exquisite. It was done in that typical deco, very sharp lines, very geometric style, which I love — just exquisite. And for her to wear that, different to all the other ones that have been handed down, the heirlooms, was lovely to see.
Turning now to The Crown, how did you begin working with the production team on the fifth season?
SC: We do hire and loan for some productions. I think through word of mouth the head costume supervisor, head of it all, just approached me. He emailed me one day and I was completely overjoyed because I love watching The Crown. I just couldn’t believe it.
We got on really well. He looked at all our hoards of jewelry. We have drawers full of it, all vintage, and it’s all systematically organized. Everything is in order by period and designer. He was overjoyed, couldn’t believe what he saw. I was trying to keep very calm. Then he arranged for the costume designers to come in, Sidonie Roberts and Amy Roberts. We were all at ease. They loved what they saw and then it went from there.
When did you start working together?
SC: About a year ago, on season five. They picked a few things and then I had weekly messages or they would come in and show me images: “We’re trying to get the interpretation of Camilla’s…” or whoever it was, Diana’s necklace or Margaret’s jewels. Everything was to be an interpretation. They couldn’t have something that was an exact look, which is possible.
Why do you think they wanted an interpretation and not a replica?
SC: It’s something to do with the creative license. It’s got to be similar or, as they say, an interpretation. The right style, the right look, the right colors. But it shouldn’t be too-too similar.
What is your creative process like when recreating an iconic piece like Diana’s pearl and sapphire choker?
SC: Well, my first initial thought is, “I’ve got to find something that’s going to suit them. I’ve got to get this right.” I knew I could, and I love a challenge.
I knew we had a hoard of vintage pearls. We needed to get the right size, the right color for them. Color is so important for pearl necklaces. For The Crown in particular, that’s what needed to be spot on. The pearls on Diana’s necklace were actually a creamy white whereas Queen Elizabeth’s pearls had that little tinge of almost age to it, the tiniest hint of a yellow in it. I know that sounds awful, but I’m talking about a teeny bit that looks very — I can’t say old, but just looks more suited for her. Whereas the creamy white is enlivening and it’s cheerful and it’s modern looking and it’s versatile.
These are faux pearls and not real pearls. And they didn’t want that. As long as it looks right, you can’t tell whether they’re real or faux. Faux pearl is a nice way of saying resin pearl, glass pearl. We have hundreds and thousands of different colors and sizes, so we had to just put them all together, which we did.
Then we found the centerpiece, a fabulous, huge oval that you would think would be a sapphire.
It sure looks like a sapphire.
SC: But it wasn’t. We have a hoard of thousands, hundreds of thousands, of Swarovski crystals, original from the twenties, all in their original packaging. The packages are all yellowed and inside there are hundreds of crystals. I’ve got in every color, size, shape. And I’d found that wonderful oval-faceted centerpiece for them.
The blue one?
SC: Well, that was interesting. Because I gave it to them in blue. They wanted it in black — I had black, so we changed it. Because I think they didn’t want it [to be] identical. It was only four strands of pearls as opposed to seven and with a black crystal in the middle.
Wow! I will say, as I watch The Crown, every time I see something in the wardrobe that is not quite right, I am reminded that this is fiction.
GC: Everything is an interpretation.
What other pieces did you source for the season?
SC: The red necklace Margaret wears is an original from the late seventies, early eighties. Attwood and Sawyer was actually an English designer, they designed for all the big shows like Dynasty. A lot of the designs were taken from the Duchess of Windsor’s jewelry collection. They literally copied brooches of hers, or necklaces, and that’s what they’re known for. They were exquisite. The craftsmanship, the quality. The older pieces are very desirable.
[Margaret’s necklace is] a particularly beautiful piece because it’s beautifully articulated, so it sits nicely on the neck. It’s got a lovely movement to it; when you move, it can move with you. It looks beautiful, regal. And that was untouched. I found it like that and that suited them. I was very chuffed.
GC: [Margaret] wasn’t actually wearing a necklace remotely similar to that in the initial photo but she had ruby earrings. So the necklace that mom got is very similar to the earrings that Margaret wore originally and the brooch.
Because at a certain point you have to use the photographs as inspiration, right? I heard the costume designers talk about how much fun they had with the wholly imagined looks.
SC: Completely. That’s what I had to do and they obviously do that the whole time. But yes, I knew the look they wanted, so I knew the necklace that would fit that look.
How much time did you get to source these pieces?
SC: They WhatsApp me in the morning and say, “We need this or we need it in two, three days. Can you get it?” and I’d say “I wish you’d give me more time, but I’m going to try.” And I get it for them somehow. Sometimes they want it in the afternoon. They would just send me the image and I would then show them the images of what we had. And they would say, “Great, a courier is coming to pick them up.”
The saying goes, if the wardrobe department wanted something: “We know Susan can get it.”
GC: Drop her grandkids, fine, [and say] “The Crown wants me.”
Was there one piece you were particularly excited to see on screen?
SC: I think it’s got to be Princess Diana’s choker. I loved Princess Diana, like so many of us. Seeing the piece that I had managed to source and put together on Elizabeth Debicki — who thankfully played the part so well — that was, to me, the pièce de résistance. I was very, very grateful that they gave me the opportunity to find that, and grateful that they loved the piece. I felt it was an honor that they accepted it.
Did you follow Diana when she was alive?
SC: Yes, totally. And you know, when the department came in to talk to me about Diana, I had tears in my eyes because I feel so emotional. I’m an emotional person anyway but it just stirred up the pain that Diana had and how her life went and what happened to her in the end. I just adored her — I absolutely adored her.
What happened to the pieces of jewelry? Did The Crown buy them? Or was it a loan?
SC: It’s a loan, absolutely. I didn’t want them to buy it. I wanted to get it back because for me to have the pieces that were worn on the actors was really important. Otherwise I wouldn’t be able to talk and enthuse about it like this, let alone sell them. And someone can have the pleasure of buying them.
Are these pieces for sale?
SC: They are! The originals are for sale and some we’ve got even more — like the Givenchy earrings that [Diana] wore, I’ve managed to get more. So on our website we’ve say: “If you want the original, please email us,” so they can have the original. And if not, if they just want it because it appeared in there, then they can have that as well. Someone bought the original piece, the choker, the Diana one.
Do you know who it was?
SC: Yes, and he was so thrilled. And I personally emailed him back to say, “I hope you enjoy this,” and he said, “I’m so pleased. I’ve got a piece of history.”
And I thought, “History? He’s got a piece that’s from The Crown.”
But mostly: You must check out Susan Caplan’s website. The aforementioned Attwood and Sawyer necklace, worn by Lesley Manville as Princess Margaret, is still available, as is this 1960s Edwardian revival bracelet. The Givenchy clip-on earrings worn by Elizabeth Debicki as Diana are for sale, too, as is the beautiful faux pearl brooch worn by Imelda Staunton, who plays the Queen. For more vintage jewelry inspiration, follow the brand on Instagram at @SusanCaplan.
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I subscribed just to comment on this post, lol. I sold costume jewelry at Neiman Marcus in the 80s, I'm sure I sold those Givenchy earrings and necklace many times over. On the American side of Royal costume jewelry, Carolee did an entire collection based on the Duchess of Windsor's jewelry, I believe after it had gone to auction. I remember a peacock brooch as a highlight of the collection. Just Googled and it's going for close to $200! Also interesting to learn that the jewelry, at least, is deliberately not supposed to be exact to ward off lawsuits, wonder if that's the case for the clothing as well?
Wow this was such an interesting interview!