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The Met Gala is just days away on Monday, May 1st! Taking place at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, the annual tradition brings together the biggest names in entertainment, fashion, and sports. This year’s theme is Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty, which will act as the dress code we see throughout the night.
The exclusive red carpet sees celebrities in gorgeous dresses, and jewels. The Met Gala started as a “midnight supper” in 1948, according to Vogue, and has evolved into one of the biggest nights in fashion. Kim Kardashian has worn the most expensive dress to the Gala, so who has worn the most expensive piece of jewelry?
A CONTROVERSIAL NECKLACE
In 2021 YouTube Emma Chamberlain wore a choker believed to belong to the Maharaja of Patiala, called the Patiala Necklace. According to estimates, it would cost $30 million to create it today in its original form, per Gemsociety. It is considered the most expensive piece of jewelry ever made in history.
Just like Kim Kardashian, who received backlash for wearing Marilyn Monroe’s dress, Chamberlein’s accessory did not come without criticism due to its history. According to the Times of India, in 1928 the Patiala Necklace was made by the Cartier S.A. for Bhupinder Singh of Patiala, the Maharaja of Patiala. He arrived at the firm’s Paris headquarters with buckets full of loose gems, per The Court Jeweller. The heirloom necklace was made out of 2390 diamonds with the centerpiece being the world’s largest diamond at the time, a 234.65-carat yellow diamond called the “De Beers,” which the maharaja had inherited from his father, Maharaja Sir Rajinder Singh. Rajinder purchased the golf ball-sized diamond, which was at the time the seventh-largest polished diamond in the world, after seeing it exhibited in Paris in the 1880s, per The Court Jeweller.
He wore it regularly until he died in 1938, and it was last worn in public by his son, Maharaja Yadavindra Singh, in 1941. The necklace disappeared from the Royal Treasury of Patiala around 1948, the Court Jeweller notes that some believe it was quietly sold for tax reasons, and others believe it was stolen.
It reappeared at a Sotheby’s auction in Geneva in 1982. The bidding went up to $3.16 million, but it is unclear whether it met its reserve price. In 1998, part of the necklace was found at a second-hand jewelry shop in London by Eric Nussbaum, a Cartier associate. The remaining large jewels were missing, including the Burmese rubies and the 18 to 73-carat diamonds that were mounted on a pendant.Cartier purchased the incomplete necklace and restored it to resemble the original. They replaced the lost diamonds with cubic zirconia and synthetic diamonds and mounted a replica of the original “De Beers” diamond, soures note that it took 2-4 years to complete it.Chamberlein credited Cartier for her jewelry on her official Instagram page, facing major backlash for how a piece of Indian heritage had reached the neck of an American Youtuber, and was never returned to the family.
Considering the jewels have been replaced, it’s hard to know exactly how much the necklace is worth now. In terms of an exact number, Gigi Hadid wore a $12 million Jacob & Co. diamond necklace in 2021.