On May 11, 2010, Benedict XVI, during the outdoor Mass in Lisbon, before almost 200,000 people, challenged the Portuguese to begin preparations for the centenary of the Fátima apparitions. Leitão & Irmão subscribes to so significant an anniversary by recreating, in silver, gold and precious stones, the famous crowned statue of the Chapel of the Apparitions at Fátima.

To faithfully reproduce a small image of Our Lady of Fátima, Leitão & Irmão used the original moulds – which are in the possession of Luciano Thedim, nephew and disciple of José Ferreira Thedim who, in 1920, was responsible for the original statue.

Thus, using the 1920 moulds, Thedim carved from Brazilian cedar wood the same piece of the Chapel of the Apparitions, of a size suited to a piece of jewellery . The work of reproduction of the wooden sculpture in silver took place in 2012/2013, using a manufacturing technique – patented by Leitão & Irmão – which ensures perfect reproduction of the wood in silver.

Diamonds in the mantle reproduce the mirrors present in the original statue of Our Lady at the Chapel of the Apparitions.

With regard to the crown, the original 1946 mould of the Crown of Roses manufactured at the Casa Leitão workshops was also used, so as to allow its faithful reproduction in miniature.

In this silver gilt reproduction of the Crown of Roses, used on the statue of Our Lady during every day of the year except on festive days, the theme of the Roses stands out, which transports us to the miracle of the roses and to the memory of Saint Isabel, wife of king Dinis and queen of Portugal in the late fourteenth century.

All the jewellery work involved in making these crowned Images of Our Lady took place at the century-old workshop of Casa Leitão & Irmão – exactly in the same spot where, in 1942, the original crowns were made.