Princess Diana fans can own a piece of royal history … if they have a spare 500 grand.
The enormous amethyst-and-diamond cross pendant the late royal wore to a 1987 charity gala will be included in the Sotheby’s annual Royal and Noble sale, which starts tomorrow — and according to jewelry experts, the piece could be worth between $357,000 and $500,000.
Diana borrowed the Garrard piece, known as the Attallah cross, to wear with a black-and-purple velvet Catherine Walker dress to a gala for Birthrights, a pregnancy and childbirth charity.
Pairing the whopper of a cross with a pearl necklace and the ruffle-collared, almost Tudor-style dress was a huge fashion departure for the princess, and as Maxwell Stone of UK-based Steven Stone Jewelers told Page Six Style, “very few people could carry an unusual piece like this off, but Princess Diana certainly could.”
Avi Aranbaiev, CEO and Founder of Liori Diamonds, told Page Six Style that while “such an heirloom is priceless” due to its royal provenance, the pendant “could sell for well over $500,000.”
“We have seen pieces with such sentimental value sell for much more,” he added, noting that if the jeweler “were to remake this exact necklace it would cost no more than 30k, but given the sentimental value of this piece it doesn’t have a real value.”
Stone estimated the piece to be worth closer to £300,000, or $357,000, adding that the pendant had a special “hint of sentiment to it” as the amethyst style “formerly belonged to Naim Attallah – a friend of Diana’s and former manager of Asprey – who loaned it to her on a number of occasions.”
“Though amethyst traditionally represents the privilege of royalty, Diana’s choice to wear the pendant with an unusually long chain encapsulates her knack for showcasing her collection of royal jewels in a unique way, unafraid to go against tradition and alter lavish pieces,” the jewelry expert continued.
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The auction news comes after excerpts from Prince Harry’s bombshell memoir, “Spare,” have been shared — including the fact that King Charles made jokes about Harry’s “real” dad after headlines emerged that Princess Diana had an affair with Major James Hewitt.
As for the cross pendant, get your wallets ready: bidding on the extraordinary piece starts tomorrow and runs through January 18.
