This Gold State Coach Miniature Is A Gift From Sultan Qaboos Oman For Queen Elizabeth II

Gold State Coach of the United Kingdom. (Source: Royal Collection Trust)

JAKARTA - The Sultan of Qaboos bin Said of Oman provided a miniature Gold State Coach made of gold for his best friend, the late Queen Elizabeth II of England who will become Raja Charles III's personal collection.

The Gold State Coach itself was witnessed by millions of people during the conquest of King Charles III on May 6, where the King of England took the historic train.

In 2012, to mark the Diamond Jubilee Ratu Elizabeth II, the late Sultan Oman, who died earlier on January 10, 2020, ordered a miniature of a horse train specially made as a gift.

He wanted to reward something related to the life of the Queen of England who died on September 8, 2022, especially the most valuable and historic moment in his life when he boarded the dating train to take the throne.

Hermitage Bespoke is responsible for designing the prize, which takes a year and a half to make.

This prize is made of gold, silver, coated lazuli and precious stones, and is made with hands and carefully carved by artists and jewelry craftsmen.

"The British royal family is the pinnacle of nationality in Europe," said Rachele Benvenuti, executive director of Hermitage Bespoke, as reported by The National News June 1.

"Golden dating trains are once again featured in important historical events, making them more iconic objects," he continued.

"At Hermitage, we are proud of the work that has been done on this model: this is an ordered object that will be passed down from generation to generation," he said.

For more than a year, Hermitage Bespoke experts reproduced every carriage detail of more than 1,000 photos of the dating train taken by the team at Royal Mews, London, to create the right replica.

Now, this 25kg and 80cm long and 40cm high model will be part of King Charles III's personal collection.

This is not the first time Hermitage Bespoke has been asked to make gifts for the royal family.

On the occasion of the late Queen's visit to Oman, the Sultan gave her a Faberg\'e-style egg consisting of a lazuli layer, gold and diamonds, which has a complicated internal mechanism system, can be opened to show a horse.

The company said the work was an "in-depth symmetry that expresses the great attention given by the Sultan to one of the Queen's favorites, the horse."

Meanwhile, for the wedding of Prince and Princess Wales, Hermitage Bespoke was assigned to create a valuable music box.

It is known, several Hermitage creations have been exhibited in the VIP Harrods room and at the Oman National Museum.

"For decades, Hermitage has had the privilege of serving aristocrats and aristocrats from East Asia to the Middle East, from India to Europe and North Africa," said Benvenuti.

"We are proud and honored to be able to serve amazing clients, who demonstrate our extraordinary and unmatched capabilities in specially ordered industries," he said.