The Maharaja’s demand for the Patiala Necklace was borne out of his competitive spirit. According to the Cartier archives, when Bhupinder Singh heard that the then maharaja of Kashmir had commissioned a series of priceless items, he wasn’t ready to be outdone. So he placed the single-largest order Cartier had ever received; sending sealed iron trunks of his royal jewels to Louis Cartier to work his magic. It took the maison three whole years, but the final product — featuring the De Beers yellow diamond (the seventh largest polished diamond in the world which accounts for over 234 carats), 2,900 diamonds adorning the five rows of platinum chains and weighing a total of 962.25 carats, was formed. The Patiala Necklace was last seen in 1948 when it was worn by Bhupinder Singh’s son Yadavindra Singh, after which it went missing from the royal treasuries. Decades later, the prized possession resurfaced, but with many of the stones, and the main diamond choker missing from it. Cartier has the necklace back in their possession now and has replicated the missing parts with substitute stones.
According to the maison, the Patiala necklace would cost somewhere around $30 million (Rs 248 crore) if it was made today.
A fleet of luxurious cars
The luxurious lifestyle of Indian royals would be incomplete without their obsession with Rolls Royce. Going by several reports, Maharaja Bhupinder Singh had somewhere between 27 and 44 Rolls Royce cars in his garage.
A private aircraft
The Maharaja was also the first Indian to purchase a private aircraft. His interest in aviation came on the heels of his passion for cricket and polo. Following French aviation pioneer Louis Blériot’s successful English Channel crossing in 1909, Bhupinder Singh is believed to have dispatched his chief engineer to Europe. The three aircraft that were bought from the United Kingdom are believed to be two Henry Farman biplanes and a Blériot XI monoplane, Simply Flying reports. The Maharaja was also a professional cricketer and captained the Indian cricket team that visited England in 1911. During his time, two of India’s best sports teams were the Patiala XI (cricket) and Patiala Tigers (polo). He even completed the building of the Chail Cricket Ground, the highest in the world.
