Though jewellery, especially Necklaces are usually associated with women, one of the grandest & the most opulent necklaces ever made was for the Maharaja Bhupinder Singh who ruled the Patiala kingdom from 1909 to 1938. The spectacular ‘PATIALA NECKLACE‘ was opulent & famous across the world. It had embedded as its centre piece, the already famous ‘De Beers Diamond‘- the 7th largest diamond in the world. No wonder then that this necklace goes down in the golden pages of history as one of the most expensive pieces of jewellery ever made!
The man who placed an order for this necklace was Maharaja Bhupinder Singh of Patiala, a wealthy kingdom in the fertile plains of Punjab. Rich beyond measure, the Maharaja was famous for living ‘King-Size’ even by the high standards of other Indian Maharaja’s of the time. In 1926, the Parsian jewellery workshops of Cartier SA received a special delivery. A trunk full of precious stones & jewellery, including the De Beer Diamond, from the Maharaja of Patiala, Bhupinder Singh, with a request for creating, a ceremonial necklace worthy enough for a KING.
The massive art necklace is famous for its unmatched brilliance & extraordinary design. With five rows of diamond encrusted platinum chains, the necklace originally contained 2930 diamonds & weighed 962.25 carats. In the centre, as cascade of seven large diamonds each between 18 carats & 73 carats, surmounted a pendant where the iconic De Beers Diamond rested. A tobacco coloured diamond of 18 carats & 2 Burmese Rubies weighing 29.58 carats completed the colour scheme.
The masterpiece looked so exquisite that Cartier sought the Maharaja’s permission to put it on display before sending it to India. The Patiala Necklace sparkled under the light of the Indian Sun for two generations, a symbol for POWER, WEALTH & EXQUISITE European Taste, but in April 1948 it sparkled controversy when the 25 million dollar necklace disappeared mysteriously from the Royal Treasury of Patiala. The last King to wear it was Maharaja Yadavindra Singh, son & heir of Maharaja of Bhupinder Singh. Nothing was heard of it for a further 34 years, at which point the De Beers diamond mysteriously reappeared, without the necklace at a 1982 Sotheby’s Auction (valued at 3 million dollars).
In 1998, Eric Nassbaum,a Cartier representative, stumbled upon the remnants of the necklace in a small antique shop in London. All the big stones were gone including the De Beers & the 7 surrounding diamonds. Cartier tried to recreate the original replacing the missing diamonds with White Sapphires & White Topazes, but the result was disappointing. So they switched back to diamonds. While the search for the replacement continued, Cartier used Cubic Zirconium to substitutethe diamonds & synthetic Rubies in place of the original Burmese Rubies.
It took four long years for Cartier to create a REPLICA of what was once among the most exquisite pieces of jewellery in history.
Exotique💎 