The 10 most iconic jewels through history
The Art of Jewellery|February 2023
Kardashian's eye-catching cross, with its square-cut amethysts offset by 5.2-carat diamonds, was created in the 1920s by London jeweller Garrard.
The 10 most iconic jewels through history

The Atallah cross was frequently worn by Diana, Princess of Wales, and was recently acquired by Kim Kardashian (Credit: Sotheby's)

The Attallah cross 

The company was a firm favourite of the late Diana, Princess of Wales, and the firm most notably designed her engagement ring. Yet the bejewelled pendant never actually belonged to Diana: it was lent to her on several occasions by its namesake Naim Attallah, Diana's close friend and joint managing director of Asprey & Garrard at the time, who, according to his son, only ever allowed the princess to wear it. Bold and brilliant, the crucifix represents a shift in Diana's increasingly empowered style during the 1980s.

The Black Orlov Diamond was said to be "cursed" and to cause the deaths of whoever owned it (Credit: Getty Images)

The "cursed" black Orlov diamond

Black crystalline diamonds are remarkable in themselves, which is why the Black Orlov Diamond, a cushion-shaped, 67.49-carat stone with a distinct gun-metal hue and a bone-chilling accompanying legend, is perhaps the rarest of its kind. As the story goes, the original, rough 195-carat diamond was stolen from an idol of the Hindu god Brahma, located in a 19th-Century shrine in India. Cursed thereafter, the diamond is said to have caused the death of its thief, and the suicides of three of its owners: a Russian princess named Nadia Vygin-Orlov, one of her relatives, and JW Paris, the diamond dealer who imported it to the United States.

The Peregrina pearl was given by Philip II to his bride Queen Mary I - centuries later, actor Richard Burton bought it for Elizabeth Taylor (Credit: Alamy)

La Peregrina pearl

This story is from the February 2023 edition of The Art of Jewellery.

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This story is from the February 2023 edition of The Art of Jewellery.

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