The Patiala Necklace was a necklace designed and made by Cartier in 1928. The necklace had five chains (''ladi'') and included a neck collar. It contained 2,930 diamonds, including as its centrepiece the world's seventh-largest diamond at the time, the "De Beers". That diamond had a 428 carat pre-cut weigh, and it weighed 234.65 carats in its final setting. It is the largest cushion-cut yellow diamond and the 2nd largest yellow faceted diamond in the world. The necklace also contained seven other large diamonds ranging from 18 to 73 carats, and a number of Burmese rubies.

History

In 1925, the necklace was commissioned by

Bhupinder Singh of Patiala Maharaja Sir Bhupinder Singh, (12 October 1891 – 23 March 1938) was an Indian royal and cricket player. He was the ruling Maharaja of the princely state of Patiala in British India from 1900 to 1938. Biography Bhupinder Singh was born at ...

, who was the

Maharaja Mahārāja (; also spelled Maharajah, Maharaj) is a Sanskrit title for a "great ruler", "great king" or " high king". A few ruled states informally called empires, including ruler raja Sri Gupta, founder of the ancient Indian Gupta Empire, a ...

of the princely state of

Patiala Patiala () is a city in southeastern Punjab, northwestern India. It is the fourth largest city in the state and is the administrative capital of Patiala district. Patiala is located around the '' Qila Mubarak'' (the 'Fortunate Castle') construct ...

. Around 1948 it disappeared from the Royal Treasury of Patiala. It was last pictured in a 1946 photograph which depicted Yadavindra Singh wearing the necklace. In 1982, at the

Sotheby's Sotheby's () is a British-founded American multinational corporation with headquarters in New York City. It is one of the world's largest brokers of fine and decorative art, jewellery, and collectibles. It has 80 locations in 40 countries, an ...

Patiala Royal Family auction in

Geneva , neighboring_municipalities= Carouge, Chêne-Bougeries, Cologny, Lancy, Grand-Saconnex, Pregny-Chambésy, Vernier, Veyrier , website = https://www.geneve.ch/ Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevr ...

, the "De Beers" diamond reappeared. There, 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 jewellery shop in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

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, after four years, restored it to resemble the original. They replaced the lost diamonds with

cubic zirconia Cubic zirconia (CZ) is the cubic crystalline form of zirconium dioxide (ZrO2). The synthesized material is hard and usually colorless, but may be made in a variety of different colors. It should not be confused with zircon, which is a zirco ...

and synthetic diamonds, and mounted a replica of the original "De Beers" diamond. The necklace is the subject of a documentary by Doc & Film International. A granddaughter of

is now a jeweller in Caifornia. In 2012, she was involved in the exhibit "Maharaja: The Splendor of India's Royal Courts" at the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco, where the recreated necklace was displayed. In 2022, Cartier loaned the recreated necklace to YouTuber

Emma Chamberlain Emma Frances Chamberlain (born May 22, 2001) is an American internet personality, specifically on YouTube. She won the 2018 Streamy Award for Breakout Creator. In 2019, ''Time'' magazine included her on its ''Time'' 100 Next list, and its list ...

. Chamberlain, who is a Cartier brand ambassador, received some online criticism for wearing the necklace at the

Met Gala The Met Gala, or Met Ball, formally called the Costume Institute Gala or the Costume Institute Benefit, is an annual fundraising gala held for the benefit of the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute in New York City. It is popularly ...

References

{{Reflist Individual necklaces Cartier