EMMA CHAMBERLAIN STEALS THE SHOW BY WEARING THE MAHARAJA OF PATIALA’S DIAMOND CHOKER AT MET GALA 2022.
The most talked about The Maharaja of Patiala’s Cartier Diamond Choker was worn by YouTuber Emma Chamberlain, a Cartier Ambassador, during the 2022 Met Gala Celebrating “In America: An Anthology of Fashion” at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. Emma was also a Vogue interviewer. This is the first time the Patiala Choker has been loaned to us, but we expect to see it again soon.
MAHARAJA BHUPINDER SINGH’S MISSING PATIALA NECKLACE HAS FASCINATING BACKSTORY.
The former Maharajas of India were not afraid to flaunt their wealth in public. Their love of jewellery and stones could be evident in their everyday attire, as they used to be dressed out in the rarest of rare jewels and the most magnificent diamonds available.
Bhupinder Singh of Patiala was one such Maharaja who loved diamonds and necklaces. When the “De Beers” diamond, the world’s sixth largest diamond, was on display at the Paris Universal Exhibition in 1889, he purchased it. This diamond was discovered in 1888 in South Africa. That is how the legendary story of the lost child began.
When the Maharaja was 34, he decided to make the “De Beers” diamond an heirloom item and commissioned Cartier to create a ceremonial necklace with the “De Beers” diamond as the focal point. In 1928, the necklace was completed, and it became popular as “Necklace of Patiala”.
It features five rows of platinum chains with 2930 diamonds and Burmese rubies. This was the most expensive piece of jewellery ever created, and it would have cost around $30 million in its original form today.
Throughout the 1930s and 1940s, Maharaja Bhupinder Singh’s heir, Maharaja Yadavindra Singh, was frequently photographed or filmed wearing this spectacular Cartier Diamond Choker, usually with the Patiala Necklace, with one of the last appearances in 1948, shortly after Patiala’s accession to the Republic of India. The Patiala Necklace is thought to have been torn apart and the stones kept by the Royal Family when it vanished from the Royal Treasury in 1948.
It was in the year 1948, that the diamond necklace sparked controversy after it went missing from the Patiala royal treasury. For 32 years, there was no sign of this necklace, when suddenly the De Beers diamond reappeared at Sotheby’s auction in 1982. It was just the diamond without the necklace. A part of a necklace was then seen in an antique shop in London.
It is believed that The Patiala Royal Family sold a few jewels at auction in the 1980s, including their Lover’s Knot Tiara and the ‘De Beers’ Diamond, while a portion of the necklace was discovered by a Cartier associate in a second-hand jewellery shop in London in 1998, with many missing diamonds, and it took four years to restore it to its former glory. The Maharaja of Patiala’s Cartier Diamond Choker’s fate is unknown, but it was likely sold separately (perhaps in the 1980s) and acquired by Cartier at a later date than the necklace, despite the fact that the two have been displayed together at Cartier exhibitions across the world.
The Maharaja of Patiala’s diamond choker was now worn by Emma Chamberlain at the Met Gala 2022.
Emma Chamberlain, was photographed wearing the identical necklace at the MET Gala 2022. It was worn with a Cartier Tiara. It was part of the brand’s collection and will most likely be worn again.Emma made news by wearing the royal choker, which she looked very stunning in.