Maharaja Bhupinder Singh wearing a Patiala necklace designed by Cartier
Shortly after the formation of De Beers Consolidated Mines Limited in March 1888, an incredible yellow diamond weighing 428.50 old carats was found in one of the mines (used until 1913). Its dimensions were 47.6 mm x 38.1 mm. The stone was named after the company, De Beers, and was the largest diamond found in the company's Kimberley mines at the time.
The De Beers is now considered the 7th largest diamond in the world (234.65 carats). The place where the stone was cut is unknown, but apparently it was done in Amsterdam, which was considered the main center for cutting diamonds. 
The diamond was exhibited in Paris, where it was purchased by the Maharaja of Patiala. In 1928, Cartier used the stone as the main stone in the creation of a ceremonial piece of jewelry that became world famous as the Patiala Necklace. 
But as happens during periods of historical cataclysms, with the end of the era of the Maharajas, the necklace also disappeared. So that his remains were found in 1998 in a jewelry second-hand shop in London. All the large stones were gone: the seven stones ranging in size from 17 to 13 carats that made up the pendant and the yellow De Beers diamond itself.
Nevertheless, Cartier bought the remains of the necklace and 4 years later they recreated the former grandeur of the jewelry. In place of the lost large diamonds, zircons (cubic zirconium) and synthetic rubies were used instead of Burmese splendor, small diamonds were replaced with diamonds. The problem arose when recreating the center stone, the yellow De Beers diamond. It is known that synthetic material was used, but the exact information was not revealed to the press. It is believed to be yellow cubic zirconia.
The original necklace consisted of 2,930 diamonds weighing 962.25 carats.
The necklace is currently exhibited at the Antiques Biennale in Paris.
As for the De Beers diamond, it “surfaced” in 1982 at a Sotheby’s auction and was sold for $3.16 million, cheaper than planned (the reserve was $4.5 million 
As you know, the most amazing stories are associated with amazing treasures. One such story concerns the Patiala Necklace, the legendary jewelry of Indian Maharaja Bhupinder Singh.
In 1925, 25-year-old Maharaja Bhupinder Singh arrived in Paris, accompanied by 40 servants and 20 beloved concubines. He brought with him many boxes filled with precious stones. There were diamonds, emeralds, sapphires, pearls and rubies of fabulous beauty. Among them was the world's seventh largest diamond, the De Brice, weighing 234.6 carats, a tobacco-colored diamond of approximately the same size, and two huge Burmese rubies.
The Maharaja sold some of the treasures and used the proceeds to order a massive chest necklace from the Cartier jewelry company. For three years, the best craftsmen worked on this unusual order. The result of their labor was amazing - 2930 diamonds weighing a total of 962.25 carats and a pair of rubies in a platinum setting on platinum chains. The resulting necklace had no equal in its beauty in the world. The luxurious bib immediately became the Maharaja’s favorite decoration; he often wore it to various events and just to meet with friends.
That the Patiala necklace was last seen in its original form in 1941 on the son of the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh. The further fate of the unique piece of jewelry turned into a very sad story.
In 1951, Britain denied crown princes tax immunity, so many families were forced to part with some of their jewelry. A magnificent stone necklace was losing its value and fabulous beauty. A unique De Beers diamond, luxurious rubies and three more wonderful stones, which were the main highlights of the Maharaja’s beautiful jewelry, were sold to unknown buyers.
Over time, parts of the necklace of the Maharaja of Patiala began to appear at London auctions and representatives of the Cartier house gradually restored the lost jewelry. However, the treasure is still missing some parts - seven of its best stones have irretrievably sunk into oblivion.
The House of Cartier tried to replace the loss with analogues, but the jewelers considered that natural white topazes, garnets, yellow and white sapphires would not be able to restore the original appearance of the unique jewelry. But in 2002, at Christmas, the revived necklace was shown to the world. Diamonds were replaced by cubic zirconia, and synthetic rubies took the place of their Burmese counterparts.
Now the cost of the unique necklace of the Maharaja of Patiala is about 30 million dollars. Jewelers of the famous Cartier brand hope that its lost stones will be found and they will still be able to completely restore the legendary jewelry of the Maharaja - the luxurious Patiala necklace.
Jewelry connoisseurs will definitely enjoy the works of the famous contemporary Chinese jeweler Wallace Chan. These unique ones are stunningly beautiful!
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Maharaja - this word alone immediately conjures up images of magical palaces full of servants and lovers, bejeweled elephants and treasuries bursting with diamonds and emeralds. Since ancient times, Indian princes have owned fabulous values; the conquest of India by the Great Mughals in the 16th-17th centuries did not destroy its wealth, unlike the conquest of India by the British in the 18th century. The Mughal Islam was not fanatical, they did not persecute Hinduism and implanted a refined, refined Persian culture in India. In addition, they loved to show off their wealth, and from that moment on the treasures of India became a great temptation for Europe.
Indian and European tastes for precious stones and jewelry techniques met in the 16th century, when Portuguese merchants settling in Goa first saw huge, engraved emeralds, and local rulers became closely acquainted with European weapons.
The heyday of mutual influences occurred in the 17th century. It was then that European craftsmen began to cut precious stones for the Maharajas, because the Indian tradition preferred to only emphasize the natural properties of the stone. By covering, for example, a huge emerald with fine carvings on all sides, the craftsmen sought not so much to hide the defects of the stone as to emphasize its natural qualities.
Portrait of the Maharaja of Mysore.
Victoria and Albert Museum, London
And from that moment on, European artists (and their local followers) began to paint ceremonial portraits of maharajas, decorated with pearl threads, earrings and plumes, with necklaces, bracelets, rings and daggers studded with rubies, emeralds and diamonds.
Yellow jadeite box, decorated with rubies, diamonds, emeralds, 1700-1800
From the beginning of the 17th century, European jewelers and goldsmiths appeared at the Mughal court. Shah Ja Khan, according to some reports, invited a certain Austen of Bordeaux to make two peacocks from precious stones for his throne and ordered five panels of gems from Italy for the balcony of his palace in Delhi. European jewelers taught Indian techniques of multi-color enamels - and they themselves learned a lot, for example, the method of continuous band or rail setting of stones, recessed throughout the gold surface, covered with a thin engraved pattern of climbing leaves and shoots.
The Mughal Maharajas lost much of their luster during the colonial era. Nevertheless, even at the beginning of the twentieth century, they amazed Parisian, London and New York jewelers, appearing in their workshops with entire suitcases of precious stones, which eventually migrated to other owners.
Jacques Cartier with Indian gem traders, 1911 (photo from the Cartier archives). From his first visit to India in 1911, Jacques Cartier (1884-1942) became familiar with the extravagant tastes of the Maharajas. Fabulously rich and greedy for precious stones, the Indian princes stopped at nothing to satisfy their eternal appetite for jewelry.
Design for a ceremonial necklace for the Maharaja of Nawanagar, 1931 (photo from Cartier London archives). Jacques Cartier presented the Maharaja with his dazzling sketch. Unfortunately, the Maharaja of Navanagar did not wear this starry cascade of colored diamonds for long. He died in 1933, two years after the necklace was delivered to him.
Perhaps the most famous of all the treasures of the Maharajas is the "Necklace of Patiala", the ceremonial necklace of Maharaja Bhupindar Singh: it was made by the Parisian house of Cartier for the Maharaja of Patiala in 1928. It weighed almost 1,000 carats and included the famous De Beers diamond weighing 234.69 carats.
Patiala is the largest Sikh state in India, and its rulers retained their treasures even under British rule. Its ruler, Maharaja Bhupindar Singh (1891-1938), was a true eastern ruler. He ordered his guns from Westley Richards in Birmingham, Dupont in Paris supplied him with unique, precious lighters, and Rolls-Royce built bespoke cars. The Maharaja was fabulously rich and he provided work not only for Cartier jewelers, but also for the craftsmen of the Boucheron house.
The history of the necklace began in 1888, when a diamond weighing 428.5 carats was mined in South Africa - the seventh largest stone in the world.
After cutting, it was exhibited at the 1889 World Exhibition in Paris, where it was purchased by the Maharaja of Patiala and the Prince of the Indian province of Punjab, Rajendra Singh.
In 1925, the Maharaja's son Bhupindar brought the diamond to Paris and asked the Cartier jewelry house to create an extravagant necklace based on it.
For three years, Cartier craftsmen worked on this necklace, in the center of which the De Beers diamond shone. The finished piece was a cascade of 2,930 diamonds weighing a total of 962.25 carats and two rubies set in platinum. Once completed, the necklace of the Maharaja of Patiala had no equal in the world. Cartier was so proud of his work that he asked permission to display the necklace before it was sent to India. The Maharaja agreed. Later, he was often photographed wearing this necklace. The necklace was last seen intact on his son, Maharaja Yadavindra Singh, in 1941.
In the late 40s - early 50s. Hard times have come for the Maharajas of India. Many families had to part with some of their jewelry. The famous necklace of the Maharaja of Patiala did not escape this fate: the largest stones, including the De Beers diamond and rubies, were removed and sold. The last to be sold were platinum chains.
And after many years, these chains appeared in London in 1998. Cartier accidentally came across them, found out, bought and decided to restore the necklace, although he believed that it would be almost impossible to find a worthy replacement for the De Beers diamond and rubies.
This work was incredibly difficult, especially since the only evidence of the existence of the necklace was a black and white photograph taken in the first half of the 20th century.
Over the years, the necklace has suffered greatly. In fact, little remains of the original: most of the stones, including the giant diamond and rubies, have disappeared. It took almost two years to restore the necklace again. In 2002, the restored necklace was exhibited in Paris. The new necklace looks exactly the same as the original, at least to the untrained eye. Synthetic stones almost unmistakably convey the splendor of the original, but Cartier does not lose hope of one day replacing them with genuine ones.
One of the significant jewelry collections of the 19th century was that of the Maharajas of Baroda, which contained the Star of the South, a 129-carat Brazilian diamond, and the English Dresden, a tear-cut diamond weighing 78.53 carats. But the biggest jewel in the Baroda treasury was a huge, seven-row necklace made of natural pearls.
In the 20th century, this collection was inherited by Maharaja Pratapsingh Gaekwar, who reigned in 1939-1947, then they went to his young wife named Sita Devi. The young wife lived mainly in Europe and ordered fashion jewelry with hereditary gemstones from renowned Western jewelers.
Prince Gaekwar of Baroda
Among these items are a necklace with emeralds and diamonds and earrings by Van Cleef & Arpels, which were sold at Christie's in Geneva on May 15, 2002.
Apparently, Sita Devi also ordered the men's seven-strand necklace, which was too bulky for a woman's neck, to be remade. In 2007, at a Christie's auction, what was left of the Baroda necklace—two strands of huge pearls with a Cartier cushion-cut diamond clasp, a brooch, a ring and earrings—sold for $7.1 million.
There was something else in Baroda's treasury. In 2009, at Sotheby's auction in Doha, a pearl carpet was sold (for $5.5 million), woven 150 years ago by order of the richest Maharaja Gaekwar Khandi Pao as a gift to the Prophet Mohammed. The carpet is embroidered with two million pearls and decorated with thousands of gems - diamonds , sapphires, emeralds and rubies.The total weight of the stones is an astounding 30 thousand carats.
Maharaja Dilip Singh of Lahore. 1852 Portrait of George Beachy. Depicted at age fifteen. Among many other gems, he wears a diamond aigrette with three diamond feathers and an emerald placed in the center.
Egret made of diamonds, sapphires, rubies, pearls and gold
The world's largest engraved emeralds apparently come from the collection of the Maharaja of Darbhanga Bahadur Singh. In October 2009, at Christie's auction, the Taj Mahal emerald, so named because its engraving motifs - lotus, chrysanthemum and poppies - coincide with the patterns in the Taj Mahal, was sold for almost $800 thousand. The hexagonal emerald weighs about 141 carats and dates back to around the mid-17th century. There was another stone in the collection of the Maharajas of Darbhanga - the “Mughal Emerald”, it dates back to 1695-1696. On one side of it, five lines of Shia prayer are engraved in calligraphy, the other side is decorated with a floral design. It was sold at Christie's auction in 2001 for $2.3 million to a private individual.
This breathtaking 61.50-carat whiskey-colored diamond, called the Eye of the Tiger, was set in an aigrette turban by Cartier for the Maharaja of Nawanagar in 1934.
The incredibly beautiful sword was presented to King Edward VII by the Maharaja of Jaipur, Sawai Sir Madho Singh Bahadur, in honor of his coronation in 1902. It is made of steel and gold, covered with blue, green and red enamel and inlaid more than 700 white and yellow diamonds weighing 2000 carats, making up a pattern of flowers and lotus leaves. Photo: PA
Chalma of Maharaja Singh Bhupendra Patiala. 1911 is finished with Cartier aigrette in combination with other turban embellishments. While the front of the aigrette is adorned with diamonds, rubies and emeralds, the sides are masterfully crafted with an intricate pattern of foliage motifs made of red, green and blue enamel. The Maharaja also wears a necklace made of fourteen strands of natural pearls.
Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh Bahadur of Alwar, born in 1882. In addition to traditional Indian jewelry, he wears a star, the highest Indian insignia bestowed upon him by the king, which was considered part of the royal regalia at the time.
Maharaja of Saraiji Roa, Gaekwar, Baroda. 1902 features seven rows of its famous diamond necklace and other diamond jewelry. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, virtually every Indian Maharaja had an official photograph in which he displayed his most important jewelry as a symbol of power and status.
Intercultural Exchange, Miniature Painting from the National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi, India. 1902. An unknown Indian artist depicted King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra as King Emperor and Queen Empress of India.
Egret for a turban made of platinum with diamonds and emeralds. Private collection. 1930 year
Jewelry for the Maharaja's ceremonial uniform, late 19th century .
Ceremonial turban from Cartier for the Maharaja of Kapurthala
Maharaja of Kolhapur
Maharaja of Darbhanga
Maharaja of Alwar (1882-1937).
The famous Star of Asia sapphire weighs 330 carats
Emerald and diamond necklace containing 17 rectangular emeralds, 277 carats. The emerald in the pendant weighed 70 carats and was known to come from the collection of the former Sultan of Turkey.
Jacques Cartier made an Art Deco necklace for the Maharaja of Nawanagar.
Maharana of Udaipur
Maharaja Bhupindra Singh of Patiala
Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir
Emerald necklace with pendant that belonged to Maharani Prem Kumari, wife of the Maharaja of Kapurthala, 1910
A scattering of flowers made of precious stones - an aigrette on a turban made of rubies, emeralds and beryls on one side, and with the same stones? but with the addition of diamonds on the other side. The stem and side branches of the jewel are covered with transparent green enamel. Egret once belonged to the Maharaja of Jaipur.
Nowadays, most of the ancient jewelry of the Indian Maharajas has been altered many times and has changed several owners. But to this day, the provenance “belonged to the Maharaja” significantly increases the price of stones and necklaces at all significant auctions in the world.
They knew about the multi-billion dollar “treasure” for a long time
You can’t count the diamonds in the stone caves... The capital of the Indian state of Kerala with the almost unpronounceable name Thiruvananthapuram is now known throughout the world. On Sunday, fabulous treasures were discovered in the underground catacombs of the local Sri Padmanabhaswamy temple. “MK” contacted a representative of the local administration in the hope of finding out the details of the amazing find.
The temple hid huge treasures.
- Who found these huge treasures and how?
— This was a purposeful action, since the authorities had long been afraid for the safety of artifacts and jewelry in this temple, — representative of the local administration T. A. Shain told MK over the phone.— The Supreme Court selected seven qualified specialists. And these people discovered secret rooms where the treasures were found. However, no one has disclosed detailed information about how many valuables there are and what their total value is. The cost of jewelry reported in the media is inaccurate.
—Who will this wealth belong to?
“In the next ten days, the Kerala High Court should publish a report on this decision, then it will become clear who will get the treasure. In addition, it is necessary to inventory and register all artifacts.
— What is being done to ensure the safety of valuables?
— 24-hour security posts have already been installed around the temple...
Indeed, the discovery in the temple is not one of those that is made by chance (Padmanabhaswamy is not the only religious building that stores untold treasures. For example, 3 tons of gold are stored in the Tirumal temple in Andhra Pradesh.)
It was known that numerous treasures were hidden within the walls of the temple complex in the state of Kerala - precious offerings accumulated over many, many years. One of the secret rooms, for example, has not been opened for almost 140 years. But the authorities did this after one of the local lawyers went to court, demanding protection of the valuables.
In its current form, this Hindu temple was built by one of the most powerful rulers of Travancore, King Marthanda Varma in the 18th century (although its history dates back to the 8th century). In 1750, the Maharaja dedicated his kingdom to Padmanabha (an incarnation of Vishnu), the main deity in the kingdom. For centuries, pilgrims brought alms to the abode of Vishnu, one of the most revered gods in Hinduism.
Now, numerous police squads equipped with metal detectors are constantly on duty around Sri Padmanabhaswamy to prevent possible attempts to grab even a piece of the found wealth. The shrine is already besieged by numerous pilgrims and just onlookers. Local authorities decided to send a commando squad to the shrine out of harm's way.
It seems that the court-appointed commission members who were supposed to carry out the inventory had no idea about the number of treasures resting in the temple.
Despite the reluctance of the authorities to name figures, the temple website describes in detail the contents of the treasuries - gold coins from the times of the East India Company (as many as 17 kg were found), bags with all kinds of precious stones (from emeralds to diamonds), a 30-centimeter figurine of Vishnu made of pure gold, inlaid with stones, as well as a golden statue of Krishna, weighing under 5 kg. The treasuries contained ancient crowns, as well as all sorts of golden trinkets weighing a total of a ton. It is also known that among the finds was a six-meter necklace made of pure gold weighing 2.5 kilos. All this, according to the site administration, costs approximately $22 billion.
And here the sacramental question arises: what to do with the billions of dollars of valuables dragged out into the white light? This issue has seriously agitated Indian society. Take everything and divide it? So that for every Indian there would be $20? No, no and NO. The house of one social activist, who offered to donate treasures for public needs, was attacked by angry believers. Many devout Hindus believe that jewelry belongs to their god. In addition, there may also be earthly contenders for the treasure. The fact is that the temple itself, unlike many others in Kerala, is not the property of the state, but still belongs to the Travancore royal family. Although India has long been a republic, former maharajas still carry considerable weight.