Wedding Diamonds, Royal Provenance and Miranda Priestly: The Jewellery Stories to Know Now
August and summer may be drawing to a close, but the jewellery calendar is showing little sign of slowing down. In this week's jewellery news, Georgina Rodríguez brought Chopard’s extraordinary Garden of Kalahari to her intimate wedding in Portugal, while a wonderfully personal Verdura jewel appeared at auction in London. In New York, Christie’s is preparing to sell jewellery and costumes from The Devil Wears Prada 2, and, for those still travelling before autumn begins, two major exhibitions in Melbourne and London are particularly worth seeing.
Georgina Rodríguez: The Queen of Kalahari Comes to the Altar
Georgina Rodríguez and Cristiano Ronaldo chose privacy for their wedding, marrying at home in Cascais with only their children present. Rodríguez wore a simple white Gucci silk suit, but the restraint stopped there. As a Chopard Ambassador, she chose pieces from the Maison’s extraordinary Garden of Kalahari set, including the necklace, set with a 50-carat D Flawless brilliant cut diamond.
The story of this diamond began with the Queen of Kalahari, a 342-carat rough stone discovered at Botswana’s Karowe mine and acquired by Chopard in 2015. From that single stone came 23 diamonds, five weighing more than 20 carats, which were transformed into six High Jewellery creations.
Georgina Rodríguez wears four spectacular pieces from Chopard’s Garden of Kalahari collection.
Georgina Rodríguez tied the knot with Cristiano Ronaldo in an intimate civil ceremony at their home in Tuscany, Portugal, on 11 August 2026.
The intimate ceremony was attended only by the couple and their five children, creating a deeply personal family celebration at home.
The Garden of Kalahari necklace was created from the legendary 342 ct Queen of Kalahari diamond and set with exceptional heart-, pear- and brilliant-cut diamonds, making it one of Chopard’s most significant High Jewellery creations.
To celebrate her special day, Rodríguez wore more than the celebrated 50 carat stone. Her earrings incorporated 25 carat pear-shaped and 26 carat heart-shaped diamonds, alongside a 20-carat cushion-cut diamond ring and a bracelet centred on two emerald-cut diamonds weighing 21 and 14.70 carats. In total, reports put her wedding diamonds at more than 250 carats.
I love that one of the most private celebrity weddings of the year was accompanied by some of the most spectacular diamonds Chopard has ever created. Intimacy certainly did not call for modest jewellery – and why should it?
Verdura: A Unicorn with a Very Personal Provenance
This month, the auction calendar has delivered a jewel whose provenance is every bit as interesting as its design. At Elmwood’s in London, a Fulco di Verdura unicorn brooch formerly owned by Virginia Ogilvy, Dowager Countess of Airlie, sold for £23,750 to a private collector in Asia.
Lady Airlie served Queen Elizabeth II as a Lady of the Bedchamber for almost 50 years, but the more intriguing connection is to Verdura himself. Her mother, Margaret Kahn, and aunt, Maud Kahn, were close friends of the jeweller, and Virginia knew him from childhood. She later became one of the very few people permitted to visit his studio and watch him work.
She was in very good company. Verdura’s circle included Coco Chanel, Cole Porter and some of the most stylish women of the 20th century, many of whom became friends as well as clients. For me, that is what makes this brooch such a lovely auction find: its provenance comes with a genuinely personal connection to the man who created it.
Meryl Streep: Miranda Priestly’s Jewels Head to Christie’s
Christie’s New York is taking The Devil Wears Prada 2 from screen to saleroom with an online charity auction of costumes, accessories and jewellery worn in the film. Conceived with the support of Meryl Streep, the sale runs from 1 to 15 September, with proceeds benefiting the Committee to Protect Journalists and the CFDA. Timed to coincide with New York Fashion Week, the auction will be accompanied by a free public exhibition at Christie’s Rockefeller Plaza galleries from 8 to 13 September.
Meryl Streep as Miranda Priestly in The Devil Wears Prada 2, wearing a look set to head to auction at Christie’s this September.
The strongest lots include a Vhernier necklace and ring worn by Streep as Miranda Priestly and an Elsa Peretti for Tiffany & Co. Bone Cuff, worn by Emily Blunt, which Christie’s notes retails for $107,000. Streep’s Vhernier pieces are the Calla necklace and Abbraccio ring, both in 18K rose gold, while the platinum Bone Cuff is pavé set with more than 100 diamonds. The wider sale also includes Miranda’s Dries Van Noten tassel coat, Schiaparelli jacket and Valentino Rockstud pumps, the latter to be signed by Streep.
The choice of beneficiaries is particularly fitting, bringing together the film’s two central worlds of fashion and journalism. And with New York Fashion Week in full swing, I suspect there will be plenty of interest in owning a little piece of Miranda Priestly’s wardrobe.
Tiffany & Co.’s sculptural Elsa Peretti Bone Cuff, worn by Emily Blunt in The Devil Wears Prada 2 and heading to auction at Christie’s.
Vhernier’s sculptural Calla bracelet in rose gold, showcasing the Maison’s distinctive fluid, contemporary design.
Vhernier’s Abbraccio ring in rose gold, distinguished by its bold, enveloping sculptural form.
Tiffany & Co.’s sculptural Elsa Peretti Bone Cuff, accented with pavé diamonds and defined by its fluid, organic form.
Two Exhibitions to Catch Before Autumn Begins
For anyone still travelling, or just returning from the summer break, there is still time to catch two excellent exhibitions. In Melbourne, the National Gallery of Victoria’s ‘CARTIER’ brings together nearly 400 jewels, timepieces and precious objects in the largest exhibition devoted to the Maison ever staged in Australia. Created in conjunction with London’s V&A museum, it runs until 4 October and includes important loans alongside archival drawings, sketchbooks and photographs.
If you haven’t visited already, ‘Schiaparelli: Fashion Becomes Art’ at the V&A should also be high on your must-see list. The first UK exhibition devoted to Elsa Schiaparelli traces the House from its Surrealist beginnings in the 1920s to its present-day collections under Creative Director Daniel Roseberry, bringing together couture, jewellery and collaborations with artists including Jean Cocteau and Salvador Dalí. The exhibition runs until 8 November, but with London a little quieter in late summer, now is a great time to catch it.If you haven’t visited already, ‘Schiaparelli: Fashion Becomes Art’ at the V&A should also be high on your must-see list. The first UK exhibition devoted to Elsa Schiaparelli traces the House from its Surrealist beginnings in the 1920s to its present-day collections under Creative Director Daniel Roseberry, bringing together couture, jewellery and collaborations with artists including Jean Cocteau and Salvador Dalí. The exhibition runs until 8 November, but with London a little quieter in late summer, now is a great time to catch it.
Until Next Week
I hope you’ve found something to enjoy, visit or perhaps even bid on in my latest round-up of jewellery news. August has certainly ended with plenty to talk about, and I’ll be back next week with more.
WORDS
Bianca Blanari approaches jewellery as architecture in miniature, where form, structure, balance and elevation are distilled into objects of intimate scale. Bianca joined Katerina Perez as Club Editor and contributing writer in March.
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