Emma Chamberlain is facing backlash for wearing the “Patiala Necklace”, apparently stolen from India at the Met Gala, in 2022.
Fashion’s Biggest Night, Met Gala took place At the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City after two years of upheaval. The theme of Met Gala 2022, “Gilded glamour and white tie”, is the sartorial presentation of the second edition of the two-part exhibition, “‘In America: An Anthology of Fashion”.
Several A-list celebrities and influential personalities all around the world attended the gala dressed in luxurious designer clothing that reflects the theme of the event.
American internet personality and YouTuber Emma Chamberlain returned to the Met reprising her role as Vogue’s on-camera interviewer in a gorgeous custom Louis Vuitton dress. As the newest brand ambassador of Cartier jewels, she wore a stunning tiara and diamond choker complimenting the outfit.
However, it was after the pictures and videos from the event began to circulate people pointed out that not only Kim Kardashian but also Emma Chamberlaine’s Met Gala outfit bears a historic significance.
The diamond Cartier choker that Emma wore is called the Patiala Necklace which was once owned by Maharaja Sir Bhupendra Singh of Patiala.
No sooner had the speculations begun to spread like wildfire than the netizens began to express their displeasure on social media for wearing a “stolen” piece of jewelry with a colonized historical backdrop to an event like the Met Gala, glamourizing the American sartorial art.
According to historians, Maharaja of Patiala Bhupendra Singh who ascended the throne in 1900 had entrusted Cartier with making one of his prized accouterments, an heirloom piece adorned with the DeBeers diamond, the seventh-largest diamond in the world.
It was crafted from five rows of platinum chains embedded with 2,930 diamonds and Burmese rubies. It is believed to be one of the most expensive jewelry ever made and would have cost around 30 million dollars in its original form.
However, the necklace mysteriously disappeared in the 40s right after the accession of Patiala to the Republic of India, and was later discovered almost half a century later by a Cartier associate in London- gone were the DeBeers stone and most of its Burmese rubies. Ever since Cartier has set about restoring the imperial glory of the most impressive jewel they’ve ever created.
Nevertheless, the general public did not spare to express their disapproval for flaunting a piece of jewelry with a stain of colonization in a glamorous event that is significantly focused on exploring the fashion of America.
Despite all the backlash, there is no substantial evidence that the spectacular jewel was ever stolen. According to the European auction house, the Royal Watcher, the Patiala Royal Family sold some of its jewels at auction in the 1980s including Lover’s Knot Tiara and ‘DeBeers Diamond’.
While in 1998, a Cartier representative found portions of the ‘Patiala Necklace’ with missing diamonds in a second-hand jewelry store in London. It took the associate almost four years to restore the original splendor of the necklace with missing diamonds.
As for the Maharaja of Patiala’s Cartier Diamond Choker, we do not know its fate of it, although it was possibly sold separately (possibly in the 1980s) and acquired by Cartier at a later date than the necklace, though both pieces have been exhibited together in Cartier exhibitions worldwide.
