The Patiala Necklace: Cartier’s Lost Crown Jewel
Picture a necklace so outrageously lavish that it was long hailed as “the most expensive necklace in the world.” In the late 1920s, Cartier’s master jewelers in Paris spent three years crafting just such a treasure for one of colonial India’s richest princes. Maharaja Sir Bhupinder Singh of Patiala commissioned the Patiala Necklace in 1925 — a five-stranded platinum collar studded with 2,930 diamonds and vibrant Burmese rubies. At its heart blazed the famous 234.65-carat De Beers yellow diamond . The result? A piece of such jaw-dropping grandeur, it stunned the world — and still does. A Maharaja’s Obsession: Birth of a Legend Bhupinder Singh, ruler of the princely state of Patiala from 1900 to 1938, was a man of immense wealth, style, and flamboyance. Revered and envied, he lived large and displayed his fortune proudly. His obsession with jewels was legendary, and his personal collection rivaled any king’s. In 1925, in a dazzling move to outshine other royals, he commis...