This gold and diamond brooch was presented to The Queen by the President of Botswana at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Kampala in 2007. It is in the form of a spray of Sorghum or millet, the main crop of Botswana.
On the same occasion a pair of cufflinks are presented to Prince Philipp, the Duke of Edinburgh.
The gold brooch, designed in the shape of ears of wheat and set with 11 diamonds in pearshaped cut.
Unbeknown to the Designer Friedman, the brooch he was commissioned to design and craft by the Botswana government had been presented to Britain's Queen Elizabeth.
"I was approached by the [Botswana] government and commissioned to design a piece which I was told would be presented as a retirement gift for a minister," he said.
"They told me they wanted it to reflect Botswana and that I should interpret through the piece what I think of Botswana."
Friedman said besides natural wildlife he incorporated Botswana's diamond and farming sectors into the design.
"I presented a drawing where I had made the [diamond] stones into interesting shapes."
Three months later Friedman was told the diamonds, which had been cut into the shapes in his sketches, were ready. "I was like, 'wow, this is perfect'," he said.
Source:Botswana News;Royal Collection;