Her Majesty's Little Pinkie

New Yorkers welcome Britain's Queen Elizabeth for the first time in over 35 years as she visits Ground Zero in lower Manhattan among other locales on her official tour. She is admired for her world class jewelry collection, much of it inherited--and some of it given directly to her during her long reign.

Pink diamonds and other fancy color diamonds have been catapulted to prominence in recent years--and most people attribute their popularity to Jennifer Lopez' former pink diamond engagement ring from actor Ben Affleck.

Not so fast, gem historians tell us. Once upon a time in 1947 to be exact, a blushing young princess Elizabeth was given a 54 carat pink diamond found in Tanganyika as a wedding present. It was later cut into an exceptional 23.6 carat round brilliant and used as the centerpiece of a magnificent flower motif diamond brooch by Cartier.

This remains a favorite and sentimental piece of personal jewelry that Her Majesty enjoys wearing today as shown here in a recent official photo of the Monarch greeting President and First Lady Obama in Buckingham Palace.