A King With an Eye for Bling - the Cartier Patiala Necklace Commissioned by Maharaja Sir Bhupinder Singh in the 1920s Contained Rare Burmese Rubies & Almost 1000 carats of Diamonds, Including the 7th Largest Stone Ever from DeBeers

Maybe I won't come back as a wealthy, jewelry-obsessed heiress, but an uber-weathy, jewelry-obsessed Maharaja. Like the Maharaja of Patiala.

The Patiala necklace, created by Cartier in 1928 for Maharaja Sir Bhupinder Singh of Patiala, was some of the priciest jewelry ever commissioned. From the Maharaja to Amarinder Singh, today's chief minister of Punjab, this is a royal family who knows how to look the part.

In an article in SiliconIndia.com, they point out the following about the Patiala necklace:

• It contained five rows of Art Deco style platinum chains...all completely covered in 1000 carats of ice - 2930 diamonds
• The showpiece was the world's 7th largest diamond - a 234 carat DeBeers rock
• It took Cartier three years to make
• In 1948, it mysteriously disappeared from the royal family's treasury & was only recovered 50 years later, in 1998, by Cartier's Eric Nussbaum, with just the chains and some of the original stones remaining. Missing were the rare Burmese rubies and the massive DeBeers diamond.

After buying it, Cartier restored the piece to its original state using synthetic replacement stones until appropriate natural replacements can be found. Says the ever-hopeful Nussbaum in a Robb Report Luxury Portal.com article: "I'm very confident that one day it will be exactly as it was in 1928. This is my aim."

Comments

[Vibram Five Fingers]

Enjoy your blog very much.I have read your chest on frame article& noticed you make your own forged nails from common nails.I wonder if you might tell how you do this in a future blog.

[coach bags]

Yeah, you're right.*

[Bridget Rossi]

Jewelries before surely had beautifully crafted stones and other materials. I love layered necklaces and this is what I'm talking about! I have full appreciation of those people involved in creating this royal piece. They have done this perfectly! This can also be an inspiration to all jewel makers out there.

[Sandals For Women]

people who get on in this world are the people who get up and look for circumstances they want, and if they cannot find them, make them.