A jewelry expert has lifted the lid on some of the jaw-droppingly gorgeous gems worn by Anant Ambani and girlfriend Radhika Merchant at their opulent pre-wedding festivities in Jamnagar, India, last weekend.
While the sweet couple’s wedding won’t take place until July, they kicked off celebrations with a lavish cocktail party, a private concert by Rihanna and even a trip to the Reliance animal rescue center, started by Ambani himself, according to an itinerary obtained by The Times.
Guests included prominent A-listers and entrepreneurs like Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg and even Ivanka Trump, who were there to toast to the love of Ambani, whose father, Mukesh Ambani, has an estimated net worth of more than $116 billion.
His future wife, Merchant, is the daughter of Viren Merchant, CEO of Encore Healthcare.
But even though their extravagant weekend made headlines, what might have been even more impressive were the opulent jewels that the couple and their family wore during those three days.
This week, New York City-based gemstone wholesaler Julia Hackman Chafé took to Instagram Reels to reveal that Ambani’s mother, Nita Ambani, may have worn a $6.5 million ‘historical diamond ring’ to the pre-wedding parties.
‘It’s called the Mirror of Paradise, and it weighs 52.58 carats, was originally mined in the Golconda region of India, and it’s a D color internally flawless diamond,’ Chafé divulged.
She explained that the stunning, emerald-cut ring was part of a 2019 auction at Christie’s, as a part of their Maharajas and Mughal Magnificence collection.
‘It’s worth noting that Nita might have bought the diamond from someone who bought it from the auction, meaning she might have paid more or less,’ she explained.
Chafé said that she found out the info from another jeweler on Instagram, @therealdiamantaire, who sent her a DM saying that she recognized the stone after she saw it in person before it was auctioned off.
The jewelry expert also raved about Nita’s larger-than-life emerald necklace worn on the third day of the celebrations.
The necklace featured two huge, square-shaped emerald stones encrusted in diamonds.
‘I’m not exaggerating when I tell you these would not fit in a gemstone scale,’ Chafé admitted in the clip.
According to various reports cited by GQ India, the necklace is worth anywhere from ‘Rs 400 to Rs 500 crore’ – which is equivalent to $48,300,880 – $60,376,100 in USD.
New York City-based jeweler Jean-Paul Xavier of namesake Jean-Paul Xavier Jewelry estimated that it must have taken at least one year to make the necklace, guessing that it was probably a ‘two or three hundred carat piece.’
‘It’s probably 5k of gold or platinum in the necklace,’ Xavier explained in a recent video posted to his TikTok.
‘Maybe six, seven, but that’s compared to to the labor,’ he continued, adding that it would take a full team to make the accessory – including a ‘top project manager’ and a ‘modeling team.’
As for the price, he estimated that it cost $5.7 million in total, breaking it down by the costs of the links and emeralds, writing in the caption that she ‘probably paid 10ish.’
‘It’s a billionaire’s necklace, those little emeralds around the neck look like forty or fifty thousand dollar emeralds each, maybe at wholesale, so at the retail end,’ he said.
Chafé even peeled back the layers on the diamond-encrusted, scalloped-edge buttons Ambani wore on his jacket during the weekend, as well as the cascading yellow and white diamond necklace that Merchant had on.
‘I would assume that at the bare minimum, Anant’s buttons were $30,000 each,’ Chafé told DailyMail.com, explaining that was in American pricing and wasn’t exactly sure what the Ambani’s purchased them at.
Merchant paired the unbelievable necklace with an extraordinary mauve-colored custom gown that looked incredibly similar to the art deco-inspired Versace one worn by Gossip Girl star Blake Lively at the 2022 Met Gala.
And, while the amazing diamonds that Merchant wore throughout the weekend were unbelievably pretty, Chafé also highlighted her diamond necklace and earrings that the bride-to-be sported during day two during a ‘walk on the wild side.’
Merchant wore a stunning necklace which featured a single, large diamond in the middle, along with diamond studs.
‘I kind of want to focus on Radhika’s casual look, because her casual daytime diamond is larger than I can even put a size on,’ Chafé said.
‘It looks like her studs are easily over 10 carats each,’ she continued.
Chafé told DailyMail.com that she estimated that Radhika’s necklace must have cost over one million.
Although it’s unclear just how much Merchant’s diamond studs cost, a similar pair of a combined 20 carat sparklers are being sold at Raven Fine Jewelers in Beverly Hills, California, for $1,299,675.
On 1stDibs, a pair of 10 carat each diamond studs goes for $454,250.
Paired with the diamonds was a custom Dolce & Gabbana blue leopard print maxi dress and matching hat, the complete look posted on Instagram by her stylists Rhea Kapoor and Shereen Sikka.
In her series, Chafé similarly gushed over the jewel-encrusted blouse worn by Isha Ambani, the groom’s older sister, as well as her emeralds.
Chafé claimed that the blouse, which was covered in emeralds, rubies and diamonds, featured her ‘old jewels’ and ‘new jewels.’
‘It was made Jadau jewelry, which is a traditional form of Indian jewelry, using pure gold gold foil between the stones and the mounds,’ she said.
She noted that traditionally, this jewelry is used for necklaces instead of blouses.
