Indians and their obsession with wearing extravagant bijoux’ ed jewels go hand in hand. We recently went gaga over Priyanka Chopra’s 204 Crores neckpiece at Met Gala. But believe it or not, the royal families were the first to start the trend. Apart from their breathtaking forts and million-dollar palaces, the royals loved to flaunt and were in possession of some of the most exquisite jewels of all time. From ruby greater than the size of a fist to a 128-carat 3-tier necklace, here are some of the most lavish jewels owned by Indian royal families! Scroll down:
Patiala Ruby Choker- Maharani Of Patiala
Back in 1931, Cartier Paris curated a magnificent platinum choker necklace for the Maharani Of Patiala, Vimla Kaur. The six-layered jewellery piece is embedded with diamonds, rubies, and handpicked pearls. The centre part of the last layer of the necklace is the heaviest, thanks to the maximum number of diamonds and rubies.
Star Of The South Diamond Necklace- Maharani Sita Devi Of Baroda
The 128-carat Star Of The South diamond necklace owned by the Maharani Sita Devi of Baroda got the nation talking. The 3-tier jewellery piece has a 75.8-carat English Dresden diamond embedded in it. Reportedly, it was sold to the Gaekwar of Baroda for 20 million INR. Later, it was bought by Rustomjee Jamsetjee in Mumbai, who then sold it to Cartier in 2002.
Diamond Crown- Maharaja Of Kapurthala
Owing to his possession of custom-made diamond pieces, Jagatjit Singh, the Maharaja Of Kapurthala was a trendsetter of his time. Along with the lavish diamond crown, he could be seen wearing a gold-brocade sherwani, a bejewelled diamond belt, and a 12-string Basra pearl necklace.
Kundan Diamond Necklace- Maharaja Prabhu Narayan Singh Of Banaras
Maharaja Prabhu Narayan Singh of Banaras was well-known for often showing off his royal jewels. In one of his pictures, he could be seen wearing a luxe kundan diamond haar made with some precious gemstones. He had an entire collection of intricate jewellery which included polki diamond shoulder pads, bajubandh, bejewelled belts and rings, and a Star of India brooch!
Patiala Necklace- Maharaja Bhupinder Singh Of Patiala
Containing the world’s 7th largest diamond- a 234-carat yellow De Beers as its centrepiece, the jaw-dropping Patiala necklace was curated by Cartier Paris in 1928. It was artistically crafted with a total of 2930 diamonds, topazes, synthetic rubies, citrine, platinum, zirconia, smoky quartz, and Burmese rubies!
Diamond Sarpech- Maharaja Duleep Singh Of Lahore
Maharaja Duleep Singh, the last ruler of the Sikh Empire had a vast collection of intricate jewellery pieces and he loved flaunting them. But his marvellous diamond sarpech embedded with a sizzling emerald in the centre was the most regal of them all.
Feature Image: Instagram
