Julia Hackman Chafé On The Best Jewels At The Ambani Wedding
From hundreds of carats of diamonds to spectacular suites of bold emeralds, here are the most astonishing jewels from the Ambani wedding
Receiving the wedding invitation of the century, jewellery industry insider and content creator Julia Hackman Chafé attended the Ambani nuptials last week, with a front row seat to admire the sensational diamonds and kaleidoscopic gems on show.
One week on, Julia rounds up the most magnificent jewellery looks from the Ambani’s lavish three-day celebration, sharing her expertise on the symbolism, provenance and unparalleled value of each astonishing piece.
Isha Ambani’s Coloured Diamond Necklace
There are diamond lovers, and then there are diamond connoisseurs. While a wealthy diamond lover may own many exquisite white diamonds; coloured diamonds are exceptionally rare, and tend to be owned by dedicated collectors of extraordinary gems. “Isha’s multi-coloured diamond necklace took years and years to collect all of the stones,” explains Julia. “The piece was made by Indian designer Kantilal Chhotalal, but the stones were sourced by different jewellers. The fact that the Ambani family even owns this array of pink, blue, green and orange diamonds simply blows my mind – forget throwing them all into one piece!” The saccharine colour palette of Isha’s jewels was perfectly colour matched – each jewel was chosen with a discerning eye to achieve a delicate, watercolour feel across the entire décolletage.
Radhika Ambani’s Wedding Reception Look
“Radhika finished her extravaganza of magnificent jewellery looks with a spectacular and intricate diamond necklace,” says Julia. “The smallest diamond – on what might be misconstrued as a full chest plate – could weigh five carats or more, and knowing the Ambani family, each diamond will be the best possible quality. I’m pretty sure the wedding guests needed sunglasses for this one…” Radhika’s necklace and earrings showcase diamonds that seemingly float upon the skin, thanks to each stone’s minimal-metal setting. This allows each stone to be flooded with light, which then powerfully radiates; delivering exceptional sparkle.
Shloka Mehta’s Auspicious Ceremony Look
“Shloka wore 450 carats of diamonds in one night,” says Julia, referencing the ensemble worn by the couple’s sister-in-law for their auspicious wedding ceremony. “Kantilal Chhotalal combined modern and traditional elements to create a multi-layered, multi-shaped diamond necklace with nearly 350 carats alone,” says Julia. “We know the Ambani’s love their heart shape diamonds, and this look had plenty.”
Heart shape diamonds are often one of the hardest diamond silhouettes to cut and polish, as they require perfect symmetry to achieve a full-bodied feel, and cutting the cleft of the diamond is a risky endeavour – it is possible to damage the entire stone. A piece displaying this many heart shape diamonds, especially of this size, is an implicit display of diamond connoisseurship.
Nita Ambani’s Diamond Necklace And Hair Jewels
“Nita Ambani’s diamond jewellery look was one of her craziest ever. When I first saw her, I was blinded by the sparkle of her necklace,” says Julia. “And we can’t forget the massive solitaire diamonds scattered around her hair – I mean, why not?” Each of the eight diamonds adorning Nita’s elegant chignon was estimated to weigh at least five carats, marking 40 carats on her hairstyle alone. Her necklace, which featured two rare yellow diamonds – one weighing 100 carats – was also crafted by Kantilal Chhotalal, and reportedly required 1,000 hours to craft.
Nita Ambani’s Suite Of Sensational Emeralds
“Nita Ambani seemed to wear 1,000 kilos of emeralds for her son’s wedding,” quips Julia. “Even seeing Nita from afar, the green of her emeralds was so striking,” she adds. The Ambanis do, indeed, seem to have a particular penchant for emeralds. While all of the women in the bridal party have been pictured wearing extraordinary suites of emeralds, Anant Ambani is also partial to these verdant gemstones – notably wearing a brooch on his wedding day designed by Heeramaneck & Son, crafted in collaboration with Cartier, that flaunts a 720 carat cabochon emerald.
Nita’s jewellery suite for the couple’s Mangalsutra ceremony similarly features emeralds of staggering size, notably her ring, which showcased an enormous round emerald embraced by a halo of white diamonds.
“One of my favourite parts of this jewellery look was the fact that there were three huge emeralds dangling at the back of Nita’s neck – just a fabulously unnecessary place to have gigantic emeralds!” says Julia. “It made me smile from ear to ear. Nita also wore an arm piece between her elbow and shoulder featuring an emerald that looked to be like 100 carats.”
Isha’s Rainbow Gemstone Necklace
“Isha wore what is called a Navratna necklace, featuring nine different gemstones,” says Julia. A Navratna design features a blue sapphire, jade, emerald, diamond, fire opal, coral and pearl, believed to have talismanic charms and intended to represent each of the planets, protecting its wearer from negative energy. Isha’s necklace was made by esteemed Indian jeweller Viren Bhagat. “Mrs Nita herself told me it took over three years to collect all of the gems for this necklace,” says Julia .”Plus, seeing Isha wear a blue sapphire was not what I expected, it was such a delightful surprise, as she has never worn a blue sapphire before.”
Lead Image Courtesy Of Instagram / @ambani_update
