TALK ABOUT JEWELRY with a story and many lives — the Bulgari Laguna Blu is a gem that falls into that category. Priyanka Chopra Jonas wore this incredible 11.6-carat fancy vivid blue diamond to the 2023 Met Gala, which honored the visionary fashion design genius Karl Lagerfeld. Many of the jewels were white diamonds and pearls — lots of pearls from his time at Chanel. So how did the blue diamond figure into this evening of black and white gowns and nods to Kaiser Karl’s own style of sunglasses, massive quantity of rings, diamond brooches and love of cats, particularly one of his own?
Chopra Jonas, a Bulgari global ambassador, stayed within the theme with her gown, a black ribbon in her hair and mismatched Bulgari diamond earrings. But we need to go back to when I received a press release from Sotheby’s a week before the event. It teased how this Bulgari Laguna Blu was its largest blue diamond and the most valuable gem from the brand ever to go up for sale. It was to be “first unveiled at the forthcoming Met Gala on 1 May, before going its sale during Sotheby’s Luxury Week in Geneva this May,” according to the release. The diamond will be sold unmounted.
And so for a week, I pondered who would be wearing the gem. I knew it would be an ambassador of Bulgari, but would it be Anne Hathaway or Zendaya? Only time would tell, as we also didn’t know for certain who would be at “the biggest fashion night out.”
(L) Sketch of the necklace Priyanka Chopra Jonas wore. COURTESY OF BULGARI; (R) The Laguna Blu Diamond. COURTESY OF @SOTHEBY’S
And so I waited with bated breath, and there is it was on Chopra Jonas’ neck. I could go on about the attributes of the diamond, with an estimated value of over $25 million, but let’s talk about how Bulgari and Sotheby’s collaborated on a necklace that would complement Chopra Jonas’ look, stand out, speak to Bulgari’s aesthetics and honor Lagerfeld at the same time.
As aside, the diamond was designed as ring in a simple setting and stayed in the same European family after it was commissioned in 1970. So until Chopra Jonas wore it, it would have been seen only by a privileged few.
As far as the necklace design for the gala goes, the setting for this unmodified pear-shaped blue diamond, which received the highest grade for a blue diamond by the Gemological Institute of America was inspired by the bay laurel wreaths worn by Greco-Roman emperors.
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“The shape of the necklace honors Rome with its interlocking diamonds. The design reinterprets the pattern with a contemporary air of movement and light. Diamonds are set in platinum, which, though denser than gold, exhibits extraordinary fluidity thanks to deft craftsmanship,” says a spokesperson for Sotheby’s.
Lagerfeld loved diamonds, and this remarkable rarity is one that would have put a sparkle in his eye behind his dark sunglasses.