American YouTuber once seen wearing Punjab Maharaja’s lost Patiala necklace at Met Gala

As actor-singer Diljit Dosanjh walks the 2025 Met Gala blue carpet in a regal white ensemble in an apparent homage to the Maharaja of Patiala, one unforgettable moment from 2022 continues to stir fascination: the unexpected reappearance of a long-lost royal treasure—the Patiala Necklace.

Advertisement

In a moment that lit up both the red carpet and the internet, American YouTuber Emma Chamberlain arrived at the Metropolitan Museum of Art wearing a diamond choker resembling one that belonged to Maharaja Bhupinder Singh of Patiala. Chamberlain had credited Cartier for the piece on Instagram, prompting a backlash from Indians accusing the brand of showcasing a “stolen piece of heritage.”

Commissioned in 1928 by the ruler of the princely state of Patiala, the necklace was crafted by Cartier in Paris. Comprising 2,930 diamonds, its centerpiece was a massive De Beers yellow diamond, one of the largest of its kind in the world. The final creation featured five platinum chains, a diamond-entrusted choker, and an array of emeralds and Burmese rubies—all amounting to nearly 1,000 carats. It reportedly took three years to complete.

The De Beers diamond, discovered in 1888 in South Africa and originally weighing 400 carats, had been cushion-cut to 230 carats and was displayed at a Paris exhibition before being acquired by the Maharaja. The Patiala Necklace remained a crowned jewel of royalty—until it mysteriously vanished around 1948 following independence.

For decades, the fate of the necklace was a subject of myth and speculation. The De Beers diamond resurfaced briefly at a Sotheby’s auction in 1982, but then disappeared again. In 1988, the skeleton of the necklace—stripped of its major atones—was discovered in a London pawn shop. Cartier later reacquired the remnants and reconstructed the necklace, replacing the missing stones with synthetic diamonds and zircon.